Hidden in the Night Sky
by Lord Mendasuit
Summary: Sometimes, our wishes can be granted, even before we knew we had them. A girl has a wish she didn't know she had granted, and her life turns around, for the better... or, does it?
1. Chapter 1

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 1: The Monkey's Perspective On It

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was a busy man. Rarely, if ever, did he find anything that could resemble free time. Even in his lightest work load, he was still always doing something, anything, that would protect or in some way help his village. That was the purpose he lived his life for, that was the very reason for his existence. It wasn't all that complex, really, it was what he lived to do, and that was as far as he ever thought of it.

But even he could not deal with the stress of constant work. Not for forty continued years, followed by a brief retirement that was unfortunately cut short by the tragic passing of his successor. Sarutobi Hiruzen was an unlucky man, for amongst the six likely candidates it'd been only he who had made the cut to become Hokage, only he had the strength of will and body to carry the burden of the village on his shoulders, and as such, it'd fallen to him.

Some days he regretted dedicating his life to his work, when he looked at his grandson, grown as he was. Some days, he regretted ever dedicating his life to the protection of the village, when he saw the scum of the earth disguise themselves with the faces of normal, every day people, and spit on his, and his predecessors', sacrifices, disrespecting them by word and act.

But at other times, he was quite glad that he'd chosen to protect this beautiful land, when he walked by the playgrounds and saw children, old enough to already have killed in his time, playing with toy kunai, their movements clumsy and slow, simple and predictable. They weren't trained. They wouldn't be trained. These children were merely playing and nothing more. At the end of the day, they'd return to their loving, civilian parents, and live their lives without ever worrying about getting the blood of the last man they killed on their pillows.

And there were benefits to being Hokage. He signed his own paycheck, for one, and for another, well, all those years of service had made him accumulate quite a bit of time for holidays. Homura, Koharu and Danzo could carry the village in his stead, all they had to worry about was a week anyway. Plus, he was sure that Koharu and Homura's cooler heads, in particular Homura's, would keep Danzo from overstepping his bounds. Failing that, well, he'd already made it clear that Danzo was merely advisorial, and that he was disposable. The old warhawk was tenacious and determined, but he wasn't stupid enough to provoke Sarutobi out into the open.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's accumulated wealth was vast. His children had quickly started to have an income of their own, so he hadn't had to spend much on them, and he was an austere man by nature, used to simpler pleasures, such as ramen from a stall or cheap tobacco and homegrown weeds. Which was why he could now afford a trip to the most luxurious beach to the east of the Land of Fire in which he brought along his grandchildren.

Ah, yes, grandchildren. Though he only had the one biological grandson, Sarutobi Hiruzen was not only an austere and pragmatic old fucker, he was also a very kind old man who'd grown up an orphan and had done his best to stand by and support the people who suffered like him. Which explained why Konoha had only the one orphanage. Odd for a ninja village, which would have a high rate of parents dying, but when it came down to it, it also had the single best adoption system in the entire continent. Even Danzo agreed it was for the best, orphan children in orphanages ate away at the village's resources and were flat out wasted potential, and keeping potential parents tied in legal bindings was ridiculous when it was so easy to have a Yamanaka screen them and clear them in a short while.

Incidentally, that measure also made him immensely popular with the Yamanaka, since it gave them loads of jobs as pyschologists once their expertise with the mind was proven. They hated using their psychological skills for torture... or most did, anyway. There were those who enjoyed being the torturer as much as the nurturer, and, well, there were also sadists.

It was a ninja village, and those were highly appreciated in one of them.

Still, Sarutobi smiled at the thought of his biological grandson and all sixteen of the orphans he'd be bringing to the beach today. It was an all-time low number of orphans in the village, and he felt like celebrating, so he invited the matron and her assistant, as well.

There was only one person he had to ask to accompany him now, and that was why he had taken so long musing in his own world, as he completed the journey to her home. He'd passed by the orphanage, which he imagined had prompted his thoughts on it. Now, however, he stood in front of a relatively quaint, old-school estate. White, two meter tall walls surrounded a two story house painted a blue so light it could be confused with white if one didn't pay attention, with blue tilled roofs. He smiled, the paint was perfectly spaced, and he noted how good the work was. Not bad for a genin team. The large dojo set to the furthest corner to the right reminded him that another D-rank would most likely come soon, as it had a sizable hole on its roof. The garden, however, looked absolutely perfect, and he had to commend the one tending to it for sure.

It had been one of the homes that belonged to his clan, but its owners had long since vacated it and moved into the main Sarutobi Compound, citing reasons of safety to raise their child. Sarutobi had bought it from them and then offered it as a gift to the person he perhaps treasured the most in the village.

A smile drew itself on the wizened Hokage's face as he rang the doorbell, a relatively recent addition to the house, given that the last one had been destroyed. The outer gates still bore the mark from when Sarutobi witnessed a malet tear through them. He shuddered visibly when he remembered how close it'd come to nailing him in the groin. The ringing of the doorbell continued for a few seconds before it ceased.

"Uzumaki residence, how may I help you?" a cold, calm and collected voice spoke. It was a female voice, speaking with authority and dominance. He knew the visage of the one who spoke matched the voice perfectly, as she was a stern and collected woman who might appear to be a cold and rather unapproachable person at first glance.

"I'm here to talk with Naruto-chan," Sarutobi answered, simply. "I believe I sent a courier this morning..?" he trailed off.

"Ah, yes... my apologies, Hokage-dono, I didn't recognize your voice," she said, the surprise minimal but evident to one as experienced as Sarutobi.

"My pipe is in my mouth right now," Sarutobi said, taking his right hand out of his robes' pocket and using it to remove the pipe from his mouth. "That might be it," he added.

"Ah, yes," she said.

Sarutobi didn't blame her. Few knew his voice well enough to pick him across an intercom, much less so when you consider that the left side of his mouth had remained closed to keep his pipe on his lips.

"It is not lit, I assume?" she said.

Sarutobi chuckled. This was one of the reasons he respected this woman very much, and why he even allowed her near his most precious person in the first place. "Of course it isn't," he said, "I am not inconsiderate enough to smoke in another's home without permission."

He knew that wasn't the reason she asked, but so did she, and she knew that he knew. Their conversation didn't really need him to point that out.

"Very well," she said, "you may enter," she added.

The door in front of him gave a mighty creak, and the bars began to slide into the walls around him. The gate itself wasn't a real defense, not when the wall could be jumped so easily, but that wasn't its purpose in the first place. Ninja won't sneak into your house through the front door after all. Sarutobi mused, however, that they served their purpose quite nicely. After all, they were only there to give them a chance to screen friendly visitors.

The walk through the gardens was quite pleasant, and Sarutobi was met halfway by a smiling blonde wearing a long white skirt and a green long sleeved jacket thrown over a darker green shirt. The alabaster path contrasted nicely with the predominantly green yet varied flora that surrounded it. "Good evening, Hokage-dono," she said, giving him a warm smile accompanying her light and similarly warm voice.

"To you, as well," Sarutobi replied. "I do so love visiting you all, and I hope I am not imposing," he said.

"Oh, no, not at all," the blonde said, shaking her head. "Naruto-chan was excited when you said you'd visit," she added.

"I'm sure she'll be really excited when I tell her why I'm visiting," he added, chuckling.

"Oh, I'm sure she will," she replied with a smile, nodding at him, "please, follow me."

Sarutobi nodded, and when she turned around and lead the way, he followed after her. He may or may not have managed to sneak a few glances at her pert behind. It was interesting to note that, even with the rather loose fitting skirt the woman wore, it was still quite a nice view.

His eyes never did wander to check the house around him, as he knew it fairly well. He used to come here fairly often, after all. It wasn't long until he was led to the sitting room, where he was seated in front of a table. The blonde had even served him tea while he waited for a minute or two until a much smaller blonde walked into the room. She was slightly pale and somewhat flushed, though the smile on her face told him the flush was probably because of physical exhertion. She did so love to run around and play.

"Hello, Naruto-chan," Sarutobi said.

She walked up to him, and he opened his arms, welcoming her welcome hug. "Hiya, old guy," Naruto replied, before separating from him and walking to sit across from him on the table. He absent mindedly noted that she squirmed a bit on her seat.

"You're full of energy, as usual," he said. "You were having fun?"

"Lots!" Naruto replied, grinning widely.

"I figured, you didn't get all the mud off your fingers," Sarutobi noted, causing Naruto to bring her hands up and look at her hands. There was some brown in between her fingers and at the tip of her fingernails, and Sarutobi had easily noticed it. "Were you having a mud war or something?"

"Er- I was totally not playing with mud, honest!" Naruto said, shaking her head.

"It's okay, Naruto, we all enjoy throwing a mud bomb or two at someone every once in a while. Why, I know some people who used to throw poop at each other," he mentioned, though he failed to point out that those people were his summoned monkeys. "Ah, but I digress. I'm sorry that I cannot truly stay for long and chat, Naruto-chan, but I did come here with a purpose today."

"Really?" she asked, pouting. He knew she was upset that he couldn't stay long enough to really entertain her, but he couldn't succumb to her pout now.

"Yes, indeed," he said. "I've come to invite you and your family to go on holiday with me, for all of next week, at a beach a few kilometers east from here."

"Just us, Old Guy?" Naruto asked, frowning with suspicion at her. He couldn't blame her, she knew him.

"No, I'm afraid not. There'll be quite a few others with us..."

Naruto nodded. "Sounds fun," she said. "I'll tell everyone, and we'll pack! When are we leaving?"

"Right now," Sarutobi said. "I sent a messenger ahead so your family could pack, I wanted to spring it on you as a surprise."

Naruto blinked. "Hey! That's mean!" she yelled, puffing her cheeks.

Sarutobi laughed. That face was exactly why he'd done it that way.

* * *

The Uzumaki contingent was... an odd one, to say the least.

The beach wasn't particularly packed, but it wasn't particularly empty, either, and they drew quite a few gazes. It'd be easy to see why.

After all, beautiful people drew the gaze of all they crossed, and even more so when you combine beauty with exotic looks. In the Land of Fire, where there was very little in the way of ethnical diversity, they did cut quite the exotic group.

Sarutobi smiled as he looked at the Uzumaki family as they all sat under a large parasol, designed to provide enough space for four people to rest in the shade, and placed in just the right way to provide the maximum amount of shade. They'd spread out four towels under the parasol, and three of them had laid down on it. The two adult women of the group and the only male were relaxing on a towel each, all three within reach of the portable mini fridge that they'd brought along and put ice and drinks in. It was now almost empty, as the plastic bottles that contained water had been distributed amongst the boys and girls that were now enjoying the warm and beautifully clear water of the sea.

The old Hokage's smile wasn't just there because of the display of generosity and kindness. If it was, it wouldn't have the hint of lecherous pleasure it had. No, he was having a hell of a time looking at the people who'd been guests in Konoha for quite a while now.

While their odd pigmentation would be the first to draw the eye, as the lead female's dark pink hair was an uncommon sight, what drew Sarutobi's eyes first and foremost was what they chose to wear. The blonde who had greeted him in the mansion had gone for a rather daring two piece bikini in pink trimmed with white, the bottom being side-tie with decorative ribbons as well as a strapless top that matched, while the pink haired female had gone for a similar choice with a two piece bikini in pale yellow, though hers was kept together by golden rings rather than white ribbons, and her top tied both on her neck and behind her back.

As his eyes trailed to the final occupant of the towels, Sarutobi couldn't help but feel somewhat bummed. Even during his youth, he hadn't looked as good as the sole male of the group, who happened to be fairly tall white haired man with rippling muscles on every inch of his body, which he'd put on display when he chose to wear a rather small red speedo. It wasn't any wonder that he'd drawn the eye of most females on the beach the very moment he set foot on it.

Next to them were Naruto and the smallest female of the group, a small girl with long red hair set in twin braids behind her. Sarutobi smiled as he noted the swimsuit she wore. By itself, it wouldn't be eye catching, as it was designed for a child and as such not provocative. What made Sarutobi smile was the stylized plush rabits that she'd used to accessorize, one on each side of her bikini's bottom and one on each strap of the top. There was also one in a hairpin that kept some of the longer bangs on top of her head from falling in front of her face.

Naruto herself was wearing a simple orange one-piece with a simple blue ribbon in the center of her chest, where the valley between her breasts would be, if she had any. She was still very young, after all. Sarutobi eyed her sides for an instant, and he smiled. He remembered, a long time ago, when he could count her ribs through clothing that clung to her skin, and was glad that it was no longer the case.

Yes, as he saw Naruto and the redhead play in the sand, only to be joined by a few of the younger kids from the orphanage, he mused that it'd been the right choice to allow them to live with her when they'd appeared, quite out of nowhere, and declared their intent to do so. Well, the day at the beach was just starting. He would get a suntan, show off that despite being an old man he could still put the pathetic younglings around him to shame, maybe play some Volleyball and then go out and knock out some punks making a ruckus in the village or something.

It felt good to be the most powerful man in the country when you didn't have to worry about your responsibilities. "Hm, Moena-chan, would you mind rubbing lotion on my back? I can't quite reach it, myself," he asked of the younger assistant of the matron, a rather fetching young lass of just twenty five years. Some would've called him a dirty old man for the obvious pass at a young woman, but it didn't really matter.

She smiled. "Oh, should I assume you want a massage to go with it, then?" she asked.

It'd taken a while for the young woman to relax in his presence, but her aunt, the matron, had insisted that off duty Hokage was just that perverted old guy, and that it was okay to verbally abuse him and to throw things at him when he got out of line. All ninja had quirks, and being a harmless pervert of that sort was a small price to pay in exchange for such an otherwise outstanding and competent leader for their village, or so was Sarutobi's own humble opinion, at any rate. "I won't be saying no," Sarutobi replied.

It was also part of the reason why she accepted with just a giggle. She knew he was harmless, and that he was a really kind person who would never dare touch a woman who did not wish to be touched. Hell, he had tightened up the laws against sexual harassment in the village. Some rumors said that the man had done it to make the position of a kunoichi more attractive, or to bring more women to Konoha... and they'd be right. Really, there was no reason not to. The people who complained about it were a disruptive element anyway, and for a village as concerned with teamwork as Konoha was, that was intolerable.

So, despite being a pervert, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew he was still fairly popular with Konoha's female population. As he felt the cool, lotion-covered fingers of a young woman beginning to knead the knots on his back to extinction, he let out a groan of contentment and figured that it was good to be the Kage.

* * *

"Mistress..!" the pink haired woman protested, looking somewhat scandalized, as Naruto pulled her to her feet by one of her arms.

"Mou, I told you to quit that already, Signum!" Naruto said, waving her hand. "Besides, we're at the beach! This is a day off for everyone! So none of that stuff!" Naruto said, waving her hand. "Now, come here and help me bury Zafira in the sand while he's asleep!" she said, gesturing to the group's sole male, who had his eyes closed still.

"That's rather mean, isn't it?" the bigger blonde of the group said, frowning a little.

"Don't be silly, Shamal, it's tradition!" Naruto said, nodding her head and stroking her chin, as if she were a sage dispensing advice. Too bad she didn't have a fake beard. "Ain't it right, Vita-chan?"

"Don't ask me," the redhead replied, glaring at her.

"I'm your mistress, shouldn't you back me up unconditionally?" Naruto said, pouting, crossing her arms and glaring at her.

"You just said we didn't have to do all that stuff like a second ago!" Vita countered.

Naruto blinked. "I did, didn't I?" she asked, before shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. Just back me up on this," she said.

"... Zafira isn't even asleep, you know? He's just pretending," Signum said, deadpan.

"... He is!?" Naruto said. "Are you?" she asked, turning to Zafira.

"I am currently asleep," Zafira said, completely serious, turning to face Naruto.

"See? He's totally asleep," Naruto said, smiling widely at Signum. "... Wait. Oh... it's not as funny if he's not actually asleep. I'll go for a swim, then. Accompany me, Vita-chan?"

"Sure," Vita said, nodding her head and dropping the bucket that was on her hand, already full of sand to dump on Zafira. Then they both walked out of the shade provided by their parasol and took off towards the sea at a brisk pace.

"It's nice to see her energetic and cheerful, isn't it?" Shamal asked, turning towards Signum. "But that's our cute little mistress for you."

Signum smiled and laid back on her towel. "It's nice to relax like this..."

"It's new, but not unwelcome," Zafira said.

"I wish these kinds of days could just go on forever..." Shamal said.

"It's our duty to make sure they do," Signum said, looking in the distance at the sea, where she could see Naruto and Vita playing with several children, throwing water at them and being splashed in return. She noted that Vita steered Naruto away every time the blonde looked like she might be heading deeper into the ocean and smiled a little to herself.

* * *

"Ah, I'm soooo tired~!" Naruto let out a long sigh as she threw herself on top of the exceedingly soft hotel bed that was in the room she shared with her servants. It should be noted that she had just leaped down from the arms of the talest of her servants, Zafira, and had thus made quite the indent when she landed, before the mattress righted itself.

"Uhm... Mistress, there's only one bed in the room," Signum said, blinking and looking into the room. She knew something was odd when they'd taken the elevator all the way up.

"I know, right?" Naruto said, looking around at the lavishly decorated room, plus the oversized bed she now laid upon. "They had this big room all nice and vacant!"

"How did you convince Hokage-dono to pay for this room? It can't have been cheap," Vita asked, looking around and whistling. She went and opened the fridge, revealing several rather expensive bottles of sake. All complimentary.

"Apparently he knows the guy who owns the hotel, so he let us use it for free. Said something about being a really old friend or having saved his life and his family's life. Maybe both, multiple times," Naruto said, waving her hand.

"But still, wouldn't Hokage-dono take this room for himself? It seems... odd," Signum said.

"You know full well that our little mistress is irresistible when she wants something," Shamal said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Indeed," Zafira said, frowning a little. He'd carried her all the way to the room from the beach without protest, and all it'd taken was her asking him with a smile on her face. She was almost criminally persuasive when she wanted to be, and it was easily noticeable.

Naruto merely giggled. "I'm the bestest!" she said. "Anyway, you guys going to sleep or what?" she asked.

"Uhm... Mistress, like I said, there is only the one bed," Signum repeated.

"Of course there is!" Naruto said, nodding. "So?"

"This is..."

"Signum! I'm tired of you refusing this, so I didn't want to give you any chance to! So today, you're all going to sleep with me!" Naruto said, standing up and crossing her arms, trying to look intimidating. It obviously didn't quite work.

Signum didn't bother protesting, she just sighed. "As you say, my mistress," she said, sounding somewhat defeated.

Naruto cheered. "Okay then! Now let's get to sleep! We have to get up early tomorrow! I wanna check every shop in the town!"

* * *

The scene was one she remembered well.

The four stood in each of the cardinal points around a circle, with a shining glyph providing lighting in the otherwise dark room, the book shining in ominous purple light behind them. Their heads were bowed and their eyes closed as they knelt, as if swearing fealty to a feudal lord. At the time, she'd tought they were ANBU, or ninja that had managed to sneak into her home, since they'd dressed in all black and had appeared out of nowhere.

And then they spoke, swearing to forever protect and defend her. They promised to fight in her name, to attack any and all who would mean her harm.

To be her protectors against the world.

To be her knights.

To be hers.

It was a scene she remembered well, and one she remembered fondly. It'd marked a turning point in her life, where it'd changed upside down. Suddenly she, who had nobody, had a family, who would stick by her. By her, who had to struggle to attract even a passing glance?

Was it really any wonder that she had accepted them and their words without question?

She hadn't really regretted it since.

With a smile on her sleeping face, Naruto stirred a little, her arms beginning to move before her searching hands found exactly what she had been looking for. Still asleep, Naruto forcefully pulled Vita to her side and at the same time she snuggled a little closer to the larger body behind her.

Her smile widened a bit and Naruto returned to sleeping peacefully, having dreams of a pretty woman with beautiful eyes smiling at her and patting her head.

* * *

"We have spent more money in a week than we otherwise would in a month," Signum said, then turned to look at the Hokage, who seemed somewhat surprised at the figures. "My deepest apologies," she said, shaking her head, "I should have-"

Sarutobi waved his hand. "This entire trip has spent less than what I make in a month, so it's well under expected costs," Sarutobi said, waving his hand, "we got really lucky."

Signum nodded in thanks for the dismissal, knowing full well that the man could have been very angry about the fact that Naruto had been almost entirely unrestrained in her spending. It was her duty as her guardian to restrain her when she went overboard. However, she also knew that this wasn't the reason she'd been called to the Hokage's side.

The beach was abuzz with activity, and she could see Shamal playing referee for a game of volleyball as a group of six boys tried to outperform Zafira and Vita, who seemed to be having a great time in showing them that no, those muscles on Zafira weren't meaningless and that just because she was shorter than them didn't mean Vita couldn't outperform all of them. Several of the boys and girls, including Naruto, were cheering Zafira and Vita on, along with the females that had accompanied the boys.

Signum absent mindedly wondered if the boys had tried to get Shamal to accompany them. It wasn't unlikely, and it wouldn't be the first time it happened in that week. It'd happened to Signum no less than four times, Shamal was on her ninth time being asked out and Zafira had been propositioned six times himself. Of course, the unlucky gals and guys that asked them out couldn't know that their hopes would be in vain. After all, none of them would ever look at any other than their master, would never leave their master's side just to satisfy their carnal desires.

Much less so considering how much trouble their cute little mistress was likely to get into if left alone. "Have you considered my proposal?"

"We have talked about it," Signum said, evenly, closing her eyes.

"Her parents' money won't last forever," Sarutobi said, "and the stipend was discontinued since your situation was legalized."

"I understand, but I am reluctant to leave her side nonetheless," Signum said.

"Shouldn't be too difficult... All of you easily qualify for jounin rank. In terms of ability as well as mentality. Shamal-san would most likely be welcome in the hospital, as well. Your duties needn't take you from Konoha. So long as you are willing to take a genin team..."

"I could never do that," Signum said, "it'd feel as if I am betraying her. We've already taken her dream from her... to flaunt it in her face would be just plain cruel."

"Do you think she'd feel like that? It doesn't sound very much like Naruto to me. She'd be happy for you," Sarutobi said.

"I know she would, but it doesn't change how I would feel," Signum said, finally. "We haven't reached a decision yet, but we are leaning towards a negative."

"How about my second proposal, then?" Sarutobi said.

"It did pique our interest quite a bit more," Signum admitted. "Our first allegiance will always and forever be to our Mistress..." Signum stated.

"Asking you to swear loyalty to Konoha would be a tad too much," Sarutobi admitted. "You're not opposed to mercenary work, though?"

"We will do anything and everything in our capacity to ensure our Mistress' continued health, good cheer and security, be it physical, psychological or financial."

"Anything?" Sarutobi asked. "It's quite surprising. That's a wide statement."

"If it would please our mistress," Signum said.

"Of course..." Sarutobi said, smiling, knowing full well that Signum's loyalty was supreme and undeniable. "Naruto is a very lucky girl."

"It was time her luck turned," Signum replied, simply. "She is our dear mistress, and she did not deserve to be alone."

Sarutobi chuckled. "Truth, I say," he said. "Could I interest you in a saucer, perhaps?" he asked, gesturing to his right, where a bottle of sake rested.

"I do not drink while on duty," Signum said, matter of factly.

There wouldn't really be a way to change that response, Sarutobi realized. No matter how much he were to insist that they were there to simply rest and relax. He himself was guilty of even now using his 'free time' to reflect back on the path the year had taken to try and predict where it would go from now, where he would lead Konoha. Sarutobi nodded and drank without much ado.

Signum stood up. "It seems Naruto-sama has decided that I've had enough of a break. I'm sorry to cut our conversation short, but-"

"Not at all," Sarutobi said, waving his hand. "I'll be watching and cheering you on from here."

Unsaid was the fact that his eyes'd be glued to her breasts or butt, depending on which faced him at the time. But then again, he didn't need to say it. She knew.

It was sad that tomorrow they'd be returning to Konoha, because he would so miss seeing girls in bikinis.

* * *

Ask me no questions, and I shall tell you no lies. Ask me questions, and I will try to answer as truthfully as possible. Ask me questions that reveal spoilers, though, and I will... probably avoid answering. If you have any concerns, seriously, ask. I at least try to read all my reviews.

Also, when have you seen a fic that OPENS with the Beach Breather Episode? Never before, I tell you! I'm original as phuck!

(But original don't mean good, now do it?... Welp, this might not have been such a good idea after all...)

Interesting Trivia: The Wolkenritter's swimsuits are based on the swimsuits they wear in the Gears of Destiny game for the PSP. Naruto's is based on Hayate's.

The Sandaime Hokage, despite his advanced age, still works out, so he still looks like a younger man than he should. All except for his face.

The reason the Wolkenritter aren't listed was because of limited space. Otherwise, the character tags would include them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 2: Hunters Hidden in the Leaves

* * *

Vita was usually not one to brood or sit around and mope. She was an action girl, and rather than sit around and think about what had happened or what she had done or whatever, she would usually be trying to either fix the situation if such was possible or moving on. That made the image of her sitting on a corner with her legs crossed and an angry frown on her face all the more hilarious.

"What did you do this time?" asked Zafira, looking somewhat surprised.

"You don't want to know," Vita said, shaking her head. "Anyway, where were you? Shamal, too, I haven't seen her since this morning."

"Packing," Zafira said, simply, "and buying souvenirs, respectively," he explained, simply.

"But you weren't in the room," Vita said.

"I was also collecting all the things that Naruto lent out to the orphanage kids. Our mistress is very generous, but she is also very lazy," Zafira grumbled.

Vita chuckled. "So I'm not the only one on punishment duty? What did YOU do?"

"I'm not entirely sure. She said I was being mean, but all I did last night was scare a man trying to cheat her with some rigged carnival games," Zafira said, shaking his head.

"She probably wanted to compete anyway," Vita said, shrugging. "Anyway, come on, I'll help you pack."

Vita stood up from her corner and dusted off her buttocks, adjusting her skirt a little and pulling on her shirt so that it covered what the skirt revealed once she pulled it down a bit. At times, Vita wondered what her mistress was thinking when she bought them clothes. For the most part, she'd let them choose what they wanted, but every once in a while she'd come across an article of clothing or entire outfit that she just loved, and forced them into it. More than a few had been quite embarrassing, but then again, their mistress hadn't forced them to wear those. She'd just look disappointed when they'd refuse... which was practically the same as forcing them to wear it.

Vita would be the first to tell you that her mistress' pout was a fabled weapon of legend, capable of moving mountains and thawing the coldest ice, and her teary eyes were known for arranging miracles. Like getting Signum to help in building a sand castle.

Admittedly, she also chose things that they liked, every once in a while, such as the outfit Vita wore currently, a simple white shirt with a stylized broken heart in black and a matching black skirt accented with lace. Better that than being forced to walk around wearing a maid's uniform, Vita mused, though she did have to agree that Zafira looked very good rocking a butler's uniform.

Vita's musing on clothing ended as soon as she finished packing the casual clothes they'd worn for the week back where they came from, and had then started to go through all the swimsuits. That had been quite a bit more of a fight, as Naruto had flat out vetoed most of their choices. Vita had, at first, laughed at Signum, Shamal and Zafira's embarrasment at the choices Naruto had made for them, but had to ultimately agree that they were a better fit than the more conservative choices the knights had made.

Though Zafira did keep that one stripped bathing suit that seemed as antiquated as the fossil of an old woman that ran the store they'd bought it in. Naruto thought it was funny, for some reason.

The swimsuits done, Vita sighed. "I didn't think we'd brought along this many," she admitted.

"You'd be surprised how much clothing we went through in just a week. We weren't washing them, so..." a new voice said.

"Oh, hi, Shamal," Zafira said, deadpan.

The blonde laughed a little. "I am mostly done. All that remains is taking a few photos around town, and we'll be set," she explained, waving around a camera. "I thought it'd be best to get everyone together for that. Is Signum here?"

"Yes. She's taking a bath with Naruto right now," Vita said.

"How odd that you're not the one with her," Shamal replied, tilting her head. "Punishment?"

"Punishment," Vita confirmed.

"All the punishment," Zafira added.

"At any rate... I detected a few usable cores nearby on a routine scan," Shamal said, conversationally, holding up a thick book bound in leather and decorated with a large golden cross.

The two nodded. "We'll hunt them down, then."

* * *

Rokusho Aoi was not a weakling.

And he hadn't been for years. Not since he broke away from that pathetic village that had done everything in its power to stiffle his growth, to keep him from becoming as great as he could be. A village that refused to use all of its assets and to exploit them to their maximum potential. A village of weaklings.

He'd spit in Konoha's name any time he spoke it, but right now, there was something else in his mind.

Namely, he was busy placing the Raijin no Ken, the second Hokage's legendary lightning blade, against a lead pipe. He let gravity do its job, and the blade cut through the pipe without issue. Then he brought it forward and put it close to the chin of the client that'd just tried to stiffle him off his payment. The pipe spewed water all over the basement, but Aoi didn't really care about the property damage. No, he couldn't quite bring himself to care when he was causing it to the home of a man who tried to cheat him out of his money after he'd already performed a job.

After all, the guy was a coward, and even if he had an army of thugs practically on standby, that meant nothing when you have a sword that will pierce your throat long before the guards make it to the room. "So, fat bastard, where's my money!?"

"Ah- I- ah-"

But then, the door that led to the stairway up was blown to smithereens, and Aoi instantly moved to grab at the fat bastard's throat, pulling the man in front of him like a shield and holding his sword in a ready position to slit the bastard's throat. "Oi! You, if you move a finger, fatty here eats it!"

"Okay, to start with? That guy's not all that fat," said a rather high pitched, distinctly feminine voice, as what appeared to be a little girl holding a very long handled mallet walked into the room. In her left hand, she held a rather oversized book.

"He's a fat cat, I'm talking about his wallet," Aoi countered, a grin on his face. He did oh so love it when he had control of a situation.

"Don't care," the little girl said, shaking her head to knock loose a few of the pebbles that had lodged themselves in her oversized hat. "'cause the other thing I was going to say? I'm not here to save that guy. I'm here to kill _you_," she said, pointing her mallet at Aoi's head, visible behind his human shield.

"Wha- don't you- I'll pay you! Whatever bounty there's for this guy, I'll triple it!" the man being used as a shield yelled.

"Are you a Konoha Hunter nin!?" Aoi shouted, holding his shield a few centimeters further away from him, knowing it wouldn't do him much good to stop the senbon that the hunter nin favored, which were likely to go all the way through his meal ticket's body and straight into his.

"It doesn't really matter, now does it?" the girl said, advancing while waving her mallet. "Now we can do this the easy and painless way, or I can break every bone in your body before I kill you. It's up to you how you prefer to die," she said.

"As if you're going to beat me, little girl! I am a jounin! No jumped up brat is going to beat me!" Aoi shouted, throwing his shield against the girl, who knocked it aside with her hammer, causing a groan to erupt from the client, who was knocked unconscious by the blow. Taking the chance, Aoi leapt forward, Raijin-first, to impale her across the chest.

The mallet moved fast, too fast, and nailed Aoi in the wrist, forcing him to drop the sword, but as he was in the air, he couldn't stop his momentum, and he crashed into the return swing, which nailed him across the ribs, tossing him to the other side of the basement than his client had landed in. Far from defeated, Aoi flicked his wrist and used the wire that connected him to the hilt of his blade to call it back to his hand. Once he had it, he reignited the lightning blade and held it in front of himself. He'd had to switch hands, as his dominant hand was broken by the prior hit, though fortunately he had the presence of mind to train in the art of the sword with both arms.

The girl was now holding four metallic balls in between the fingers of her left hand, the book she'd had in it now tucked under her armpit, but she soon let them go. They seemed to float in mid air for a second, but a swing of her mallet, so fast it was but a blur, had them streaking towards Aoi.

He tried to bat them aside with the Raijin, but he could only hit two of them and the other two hit his torso, making him break through the wall of the basement office into a large storage area. Aoi rolled and growled. Such ridiculous strength, for someone that small! And it was clear she was fast, as well, since it took her only an instant to be once more upon him.

Aoi tried to swing his sword, but the mallet was too fast, and it once more hit the hand holding the Raijin. With that, both his hands were broken, and he understood right then and there that he was going to die right there, and there was nothing he could do about it. As a last act of defiance, he tried to kick her in the knee, but she jumped over his kick and landed with a stomp on his knee, breaking it.

The last thing he saw was her opening the book she held in her left hand and holding it open in front of his body, and the last thing he heard was her sigh. "Well, I might as well check in with the old man and see how much trouble you're worth..."

* * *

Haruno Sakura sometimes hated being a genin. She had long since decided that, if she ever got the ability to go back in time, she'd find a way to punch her past self's face so hard it'd scramble her brain and get it to engage. It might make her smarter. If she was lucky, she'd be smart enough to stop and think about what she was doing. Still, at least now she had an objective. It'd been worse a week ago, when she didn't know what to do with herself. At least now she had a reason to endure her mandatory term of service.

She only had to deal with it for the next six months, she'd make chunin in the exams, and then she'd be free from her teacher, free to become a medic. She'd been inspired to become one by the fact that she'd discovered all of her traits made her excellent for medical work, as well as the people she'd met that time she wound up at the hospital after training. All of them had been really nice, helpful and supportive of her. She felt it was her due to repay their niceness by joining them. Well, that, and she really liked the introductory lesson she'd been given as her wounds were disinfected and then healed.

The hospital had quickly become one of Sakura's favorite spots to hang out, given that it provided both fertile ground for gossip AND a nice atmosphere for some quiet reading. The pocket money earned from helping the nurses and doctors as best as she could was a nice incentive.

"We have to fix it AGAIN!?" Sakura nearly screeched.

How the hell did a bunch of civilians keep breaking their buildings!? It was a civilian family! How did they do it!? She could understand if it were ninja doing it, but damn...

"Yep!" their teacher, some sadistic broad by the name of Mitarashi Anko who thought covering her breasts was for civvies and prudes, remarked. "They pay very good and Hokage-sama likes them, so make sure your work is spotless! You don't wanna disappoint Hokage-sama, do ya?"

Uchiha Sasuke, once Sakura's crush, grunted.

Oh, how Sakura hated hearing that sound. It reminded her that, once upon a time, she'd swoon like a moronic twat at the very moment she heard it. After four months of monosyllabic responses, a chronic lack of respect for her and an attitude that would get him to fail kindergarden, or it would if he'd ever attended it, Sakura had already had her fill of the lone wolf avenger act. Of course, she'd tried to take out her frustrations in a spar, only to find that he could dismantle her with his hands tied behind his back. Quite literally, as he'd done exactly that. Twice. If nothing else, Sasuke could kick very, VERY hard.

A sobering thought, for sure, but what was even worse had been the class' deadlast, Inuzuka Kiba, doing the exact same thing without the aid of his ninja dog partner. At least she'd given him a black eye for his trouble, which was more than she could say about her bout with Sasuke, even if it was a free shot he'd given her...

It was amazing to find out just how horribly weak you are. Amazingly disheartening. Anko had made it a point to tell Sakura that she was quite possibly the worst graduate she'd ever seen, and wasn't shy about reminding her at every turn. Of course, Anko happened to be frikkin' insane, and so had taken it as a challenge to whip Sakura into shape. Sometimes almost literally, as Anko owned a bullwhip and had once made her team carry her around on a chariot. Fortunately, she hadn't actually lashed their backs, though seeing her literally strip the flesh off a giant centipede more than made up for the lack of pain.

The entire team had made a note not to piss off the sadist with a bullwhip.

But still, Sakura would endure. Soon, she'd be free... for now, though, back to the mission at hand.

Kiba grinned. He liked doing this kind of mission, 'cause he liked the owners of the house. "We'll visit Naruto-chan, then?" he asked.

Sakura sighed. Kiba's crush was visible from a mile away, really. She could admit that she didn't really blame him. At least his crush was on someone who was nice to him.

"It's... acceptable," Sasuke admitted, which was a great deal better than his usual disapproval of anything and everything they ever did that wasn't training. Of course, he'd stopped protesting as soon as Anko had told him that his opinion didn't really mean much, only she'd done so in a much more... vulgar way. Still, Sakura had to curse at the fact that she'd spent several years trying to get him to pay attention to her, and this civilian girl whom they only met every once in a while when she requested a mission got him to pay attention to her immediately!

It was unfair!

Sakura's time as a genin wasn't something she enjoyed. "Good morning, Shamal-sensei," she said, automatically, as she came across the most recent addition to Konoha's med nin corps.

"Good morning, Sakura-san," Shamal replied, as she looked at the team. "Out for a mission?"

"Actually, we're going to be the ones fixing your dojo's roof this time," Anko said, flippantly. "Say, think I can get some alone time with Zafira this time?"

Shamal laughed a little. "That's up to him, you know?" she replied.

Sakura didn't really see what Anko saw on the musclebound male that she seemed to lust after, but then again, Anko was weird. While Sakura could say that his personality was rotten, Sasuke was still the epitome of everything she considered attractive in terms of body. And he and Zafira were practically polar opposites. Sasuke was lean and svelte, having the build of a shinobi that preferred speed over physical strength, compared to the bulging muscles on Zafira's frame, and Sasuke's face was still rounded and babyish, as he hadn't quite started puberty yet, but Sakura could already tell he'd have much softer and less pronounced lines than most men would.

Sasuke was a cute boy, and would be a pretty man. For Zafira, 'pretty' was the last thing Sakura would use. Okay, he had pretty hair, but just about that was it.

"Anyway, we might as well walk together," Anko said.

Kiba cheered. "Shamal-san, is Naruto-chan home?" he asked, clearly eager to visit her.

Kiba's ninja dog, Akamaru, barked in agreement to the sentiment of the question.

"I'm afraid not, Kiba-kun, Naruto had to go to the hospital for a routine check up," Shamal said, "she'll be back later this evening, so..."

"Oh," Kiba said, clearly feeling down.

Sasuke sighed, and Sakura could detect relief mixed in with disappointment. Once again, she wondered what it was this random civilian girl had that she didn't.

"If you've gotta ask, pinky girl, I'd say that you could start by not being annoying," Anko said, grinning widely at her.

"Wha-" Sakura was cut off, however...

"You were speaking aloud, Sakura-san," Shamal said, somewhat apologetically. "And... what you said was quite rude, at that."

"Yep," Kiba agreed. "

Looking somewhat sullen, Sakura slumped her shoulders. "I'm sorry," she said.

Shamal shook her head, smiling at her.

"Insulting the client is bad practice, yanno?" Anko said, turning to look at Sakura. "'sides, why don't you just ask broody why he likes a civilian more than he likes you?" she asked, moving over and grabbing each of Sasuke's cheeks, pulling them apart. "So yeah, go ahead and tell us!"

Sasuke thrashed a little and broke out of her grasp. "She's not an annoying little girl playing ninja, for one," Sasuke said, glaring at Anko and rubbing his abused cheeks. "And for another, at least she's not and has never been one of my fangirls."

That, and... other reasons. But those were Sasuke's to tell. Even if Anko insisted he had a crush on the pink haired woman, and kept accepting those missions just so he could try to talk to her.

"Ooh, double burn," Anko said. "Hm, well, there you go. That's what she's got that you don't, pinky," Anko said. "Oh, what, it hurts knowing why he doesn't like you? You should at least be thankful that he's honest."

Sakura glared at Anko, but couldn't deny that Anko did have a point. One thing she couldn't say was that Sasuke had been dishonest, as he'd never strung along his fangirls for a relationship that'd never come true, as he'd made it quite clear that he despised them from day one. Admittedly, many of them, Sakura herself included at more than one point, were just too caught up in their idealized image of Sasuke to notice that the real one would rather see them dead than marry them. Really, she mused, if she'd seen just how boring and mean spirited Sasuke was before she spent three months with nothing but him, a sadist and Inuzuka Kiba for company, she would've requested another team.

Still... "I'm not an annoying little girl playing ninja!" Sakura replied, hotly.

"Oh, yes, you are," Anko said, simply. "Or rather, you were. After all, you're the one who got laid out with one punch from Dead Last here," she explained, patting Kiba's head, which he leaned into. "And speaking of getting laid-"

"W-Well, Ino's just as bad, and she was the best kunoichi in the year, so there!" Sakura said. "Besides, now I know genjutsu," she said, simply, as if that made all the difference.

"Hm... Kiba-kun, would you be able to knock Sakura out in less than a second?" Shamal asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Depends on starting position. If I get the drop on her or if we start in close range, then yeah, I could totally knock her out in less than a second," Kiba said. After all, Sakura's months of training didn't mean all that much when one considers Kiba was training just as intensely, and was building up from stronger blocks in the first place.

"What does that matter?" Sakura asked.

"And can you break Genjutsu?" Shamal continued.

"Depends, too. I can't counter Anko-sensei's bigger ones, but all the small stuff's easy. Failing that, Akamaru will notice and bite me if he's available," Kiba explained. "Putting a dog under a genjutsu is a lot harder, since their brain's wired differently from ours and all, so he's usually safe."

"Good to know. Now, Anko-san, what would you qualify Kiba-kun as?" Shamal asked, turning to Anko.

"Maybe a mid tier genin. Rank C at the most," Anko said, nodding to herself. "So yeah, think about this, pinky. A single Rank C ninja can lay you out with one or two punches, can outmaneuver you and can block anything you throw at him. See what I mean? You're still not out of the red zone in terms of ability."

"Well these D ranks sure aren't helping!" Sakura countered, her temper piqued and her anger exploding. "If you trained us instead of torturing us all the time, maybe I'd-"

"Still suck," Sasuke said, with an air of finality that caused Sakura to flinch. "Because you still aren't putting in any real effort. You're just doing what you're told, and leaving it at that. You never study anything that wasn't assigned to you, and you don't train outside of what Anko-sensei teaches us. That is why I think you're just a little girl playing ninja, Sakura."

"That's a lie!" Sakura roared, because she DID study outside of what was assigned to them! However, medicinal theory at the level she was at wasn't quite combat-conductive yet. In a few years, she'd start learning how to hurt just as easily as she could heal, but she was still learning about the human body.

"And I'm half-waiting for our first C rank to come along only for you to get spooked and choose to retire from field duty," Anko said, grinning and crossing her arms, totally ignoring Sakura and bringing up her already impressive chest even more. "Which is why I'm not teaching you anything more advanced than the basics. See, while I'm interested in seeing how far you can go, when it comes down to it, I'm not willing to put in so much work for someone who's not really worth it."

Sakura slumped again. "But... but..." she seemed to be completely at a loss, and couldn't figure out a way to counter that. Her anger was gone, leaving a feeling of defeat that reminded her of how pathetic she really was compared to the people around her. Her hair, often the source of taunts due to its bright pink color, covered her face.

"But then again, those are just words," Shamal said, startling Sakura. "That doesn't mean it's the truth, right? At least, it doesn't have to be the truth if you don't want it to be," she added, using her free hand to tilt Sakura's head up so they were looking at each other. There were tears threatening to spill from Sakura's eyes. "After all... if you gave up just like that, you'd be proving them right, wouldn't you? And you don't want them to be right, do you?"

"You're right," Sakura said, nodding her head, wiping away her tears. "Just because I'm not as strong as them yet doesn't mean I'm worthless!" she stated.

"That's the spirit," Shamal said. "Now, Anko-sensei, that was quite mean of you. I know Sakura-chan has her flaws, but that's no reason to tear down her self confidence."

Anko grinned and scratched the back of her neck, laughing nervously. "I was waiting for a chance like this, actually," she admitted, freely. "I'm good at tearing people down, but no good at building them back up, so I thought that I could use maybe you or Signum-san to give Sakura her confidence back, and maybe light the Will of Fire in her."

Shamal laughed. "Even though you like to pretend you're cruel, you're a nice girl underneath that spiked exterior, aren't you?" she asked.

"S-Sensei..." Sakura said, looking at Anko warily.

"You think I'd sink so much effort into a worthless pursuit? I know there's talent in you, girly, that's why I'm trying to get you to see that you're wasting it," Anko said.

"I was being honest, though," Kiba said, shaking his head and looking at Sasuke. "What about you, man?"

Sasuke nodded. "I have no interest in you," he said, "nor do I believe you have any real talent."

"Well then, Sakura-chan, there it stands. They're doubting you. And from their perspective, I can see why. So... what are you going to do about it?" Shamal asked, challengingly.

"I'm going to prove the both of you wrong!" Sakura yelled, pointing her finger at Sasuke first and then at Kiba. "And when I'm done, you two will apologize!"

"That'lll be the day," Kiba said, laughing. "I'll apologize about calling you worthless if you can beat me on a fight," Kiba said.

"Oh, by the way? We're here," Shamal interrupted. She fished in her pockets for the key and, once she found it, opened the outer gates that lead to the Uzumaki Estate. "Now, do get to work. I'll get some refreshments," she said, smiling at them.

"Aye aye, sensei!" Anko called, grinning. She gave a scroll to Sakura, containing the tools the mission office had loaned them, and calmly walked away.

All three of them knew she'd gone to see if she could find the estate's sole male occupant, in order to try and seduce him.

* * *

Why did I post this so quickly?

I already had it pretty much ready. I see no point in not posting the chapter as soon as its ready.

Interesting Trivia:

Shamal is wearing the casual clothes she wears in the Gears of Destiny PSP game, mostly because Konoha is a lot warmer than Uminari during winter and it wouldn't make sense for her to wear the clothes she did in Uminari. Incidentally, whenever they're in casual clothes, that's what the Wolkenritter wear in Konoha.

Sasuke is actually not crushing on Signum. He does admire her and she is sort of what he wants in a wife, given that she's the very model of what Uchiha strive for, but as for love? Well, he's quite young still.

Anko is only interested in casual sex and not in a relationship.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 3: Protectors

* * *

Signum's sword blurred through the air, and it wasn't long before it found its target, cleaving through flesh with the same ease it cut through the air. However, the flesh she'd sliced into soon ceased to exist, becoming mud that quickly lost cohesion and stopped holding the form of a humanoid snake.

"Oh ho, that was quite surprising speed. Your hair, and the sword you wield... yes, you must be Signum, one of the Jinchuuriki's guardians."

Her feet exploded into a flurry of motion, and Signum sliced the tree that the voice had come from in half with a quick slash. "I've been informed about yourself, as well. Orochimaru of the Sannin. A despicable monster."

"Yes, well," the voice said, as a very pale body emerged from the tree stump quick as lightning, though Signum was more focused on the sword that the body had vomited, which she blocked by batting it away with Laevateinn's sheath, "many believe what they don't understand to be evil."

"Indeed," Signum replied, evenly, leaping back when he grabbed the sword from his tongue and slashed at her. "Laevateinn!" Signum called.

"Ja!" her trusty weapon replied.

Several small red cylinders began to be ejected from the weapon at a quick pace, totalling three. "I cannot dawdle or take you on with anything but the utmost seriousness."

"I'm honored," Orochimaru said, grinning and standing in a ready position. "I admit, your weapon is something that intrigues me," he said, launching forward.

"As it should," Signum replied, waiting until the moment he was too commited to the slash to dodge and only then countering with her own, though he contorted around it in a way that would make a snake blush in inadequacy. He was quite slippery, and he quickly regained his footing.

Signum frowned when she noticed he was within her guard, and as such, had a free shot at her. Fortunately, swinging his sword would've taken too long to capitalize on it, so instead he punched her midriff, sending her back long enough for him to try to stab her with the tip of his blade.

However, Signum had been expecting that, and Laevateinn was quite a bit longer than the snake man's weapon, which allowed her to slice his hand off as he lead with it. The sword bounced harmlessly against her breastplate as it had lost most of the momentum powering it from the force of Signum's own attack.

"Oh ho, truly incredible. To not only cut, but also burn through... yes, this is truly a magnificent sword," Orochimaru said. "However, I cannot allow you to slay me here. I have much to do still," he explained, moving back to avoid her follow up and putting in quite a bit of distance even as Signum chased him.

Signum's eyes narrowed. Snakes against snakes, then. "Schlangenform!" she called, and Laevateinn echoed her.

"Hm!?" Orochimaru seemed too shocked for a witty comeback as Signum swung her sword, which separated into several segments and extended. Another red cylinder was ejected from the sword, and the long chain of bladed links was suddenly lit on fire. Orochimaru didn't have much time to react before it sliced him in half, as it'd, defying the laws of physics, swung even faster without any seeming external force. The snake man gasped in pain and looked on as the sword retracted.

"Langschwert form," Signum commanded, and her blade obeyed, once more returning to its natural form, that of a rather oversized longsword.

"Heh. I am impressed," Orochimaru said. "Konoha doesn't usually utilize its talent this well," he said. "However, I am afraid I can't remain here to play with you longer. I must be on my way."

"How do you live still? I literally cut you in half," Signum said, shocked and disturbed at this man's resilience.

Orochimaru laughed for a moment, before his body began to grotesquely bulge up, as something like an egg made its way from the base of his torso to his throat. Soon enough, much to Signum's disgust, he vomited a shape far too large to have emerged from his body. It was himself, totally unharmed. "This technique renders me effectively immortal, as I can just shed my old body," he explained.

"I felt the drop in your energy level," Signum said, simply. "You cannot do that several times on a row," she said.

"True," Orochimaru admitted. "But I don't need to. See, every part of my body is under my control at any given time, even if it'd been severed before."

Signum's eyes widened, and she turned around just in time to see his legs leaping at her to kick her face. She sliced at them but... they faded into nothing.

"Genjutsu," she growled, turning around only to find the blood covered torso once more. "He escaped. What tenacious vermin," she said. She clenched her left fist. "The humans of this world... how terrifying they can be," she muttered to herself, before she leaped high into the air. She had to inform the Hokage, and receive her payment. Providing security in the forest... Tche, she should be with Naruto right now.

A hand went up to her cheek. "When did he..?" she asked, tracing the nick and feeling the burn of the acidic poison.

* * *

While Signum was busy patrolling the forest of Death looking for a deadly traitor, Naruto, Vita and Shamal

"What do you mean I can't!?" Vita yelled, looking angrily at the stall owner.

"Well... you're a ninja ain'tcha? That'd be all sorts of cheating. You guys are trained for this stuff, and if I let you participate, you'd run me out of business ya?" the man replied.

It was a rather well known and popular game, which was mostly used by boyfriends trying to impress their girlfriends. It was near impossible to actually fit the rings in the holes one was supposed to fit them in, but that was part of the fun. It wasn't entirely rigged, as victory was a possibility, but it was still pretty damn hard. Appropriately, however, the prices offered for a succesful run would be mighty impressive.

"I'm not," Naruto said, smiling brightly. "I don't have any training, can't even use my chakra," she said, quickly. "So can I try?"

"I dunno..." the stall owner said, frowning. "How can I trust ya?"

Then again, unlike Vita and Zafira, both of whom did in fact look the part of eccentric shinobi, Naruto was dressed in a plain orange yukata, so she did have the looks of a civilian. The fact that, unlike kunoichi, there were no visible scars anywhere in her body and there were no obvious muscles... "Puh-lease!" Naruto said, giving her best puppy dog eyes to the stall owner.

"Okay, fine, I'll believe ya," he said, eventually giving in and accepting their money. "But just three shots, okay? Get one, a small prize, two you get a medium and all three you get free pick, easy, right?"

"Yup!" Naruto said, grinning widely. "Thanks, mister!" she added.

"Cute kid ya got there," the man said as he allowed Naruto to take up position, looking specifically at Zafira and Shamal, the latter of which had opted for a green yukata much in the same vein as Naruto's. Simplicity was elegant in and of itself, after all.

"I'll say," Shamal said. "She is our cute little mistress," she added, giggling a little.

"Mistress..? Oh, so the girl's a noble, and you're her retainers, then?" he asked.

"Something like that," Shamal agreed.

Then Naruto smiled. Sure, ninja techniques were forbidden. But who needs ninja techniques and training when you can just use telekinesis to cheat like crazy? With telekinesis, it was quite easy to make it so the rings always fell exactly where she wanted them, and soon, Naruto had won the big prizes, grinning widely. "This is easy!"she said, smiling like a loon. "Okay, that was nice... I want... that one!" she said, pointing at the plushie she wanted.

The man, shaking his head, went and fetched it. "You sure you ain't got ninja training little lady?" he asked as he handed Naruto her toy.

"Very sure! Odd condition with my chakra, can't use it at all, so can't be a ninja," Naruto said, shrugging.

"That's harsh," the man said. "Couldn't ever get past the first year. Too tough for me," the man admitted, "but the hand eye coordination's hella useful in this business, so can't say I regret doing that one year back in me homeland."

"Oh," Naruto seemed somewhat surprised. "Anyway, thanks for letting me play, Mister!" she said, grinning widely and turning around to face her companions. "Here, Vita-chan! I think this fits you quite well!"

Vita blinked as she was handed a stylized plush bunny. "Uhm... Naruto-chan..." she began, blushing, stammering as she tried to find an appropriate response.

"This is where you say thank you, Vita-chan," Shamal said, smiling.

"I am... confused. Is this not usually part of the act of courtship in this land?" Zafira asked, looking at the stall keeper.

"Usually," the man agreed.

"Anyway, let's move on! I want to try some more food around town!" Naruto said, grabbing Zafira's hand with one hand and Shamal's with the other, pulling them along. "Don't fall behind, Vita-chan, or you might get lost!"

Vita, who'd been left admiring her gift, quickly scrambled to follow.

"That girl's got the spoiled attitude of a noble brat alright," the stall keeper said, smiling to himself. "But there ain't no way she doesn't have at least a little training."

Still, there were other clients to serve.

* * *

Naruto's finger traced the fading scar on Signum's cheek. She knew it wouldn't be long before it faded entirely. All wounds that scarred on her knights would eventually disappear, as they'd regenerate back to the way they'd been since she'd first met them. Still, she frowned. "You've been careless, Signum," Naruto said. "I thought we agreed... you wouldn't be."

Her voice was cold and distant, almost as if she wasn't really there, as if it was someone else speaking. "My apologies, mistress..."

"No, don't apologize. I'm not going to blame you, but..." Naruto's eyes centered on Signum's. "The next time you meet the man who hurt you... Call for backup immediately."

"But, mistress... My pride demands that I-" Signum tried to protest, knowing that her inconclusive battle was a stain on her honor as a knight.

"There is no honor in pointless death, Signum, don't be proud that you threw your life away just because he pissed you off," Naruto countered, coldly. "I will not... I can't let you do this alone. I... I can't help you myself. I'm weak and powerless but... don't do this alone. Don't put yourself in danger... Please..."

Naruto's voice cracked.

"I... mistress, I-"

Signum was once more countered when Naruto flung herself at the pink haired knight. "You dummy! You got hurt! You said you'd be fine and that they wouldn't even touch you! Don't let them touch you ever again! Only I can touch you, okay!? Nobody else! You're mine and mine alone!"

Signum blinked, feeling her master's tears staining the fabric of her clothes... it was just a tiny scratch, so why...

Oh. Right.

"I understand, mistress. I won't make this mistake again," Signum said, soothingly rubbing circles on her mistress' back, trying to comfort her. "You need not fear for me. Remember... even if I fall, my loyalty to you transcends death, and it takes but your call to have me once more at your side."

It'd spend a great deal of the book's power, but... It wasn't urgent to fill it up anyway. They'd been doing so on and off, if only due to their mistress' wish to be a ninja. They had quite a few pages already, and it wouldn't be long to complete it.

"I don't care! I don't want to see you... any of you... hurt... Not ever!" Naruto said, bringing her hands to Signum's cheeks, softly caressing both the unblemished skin and the small scar at once.

"Mistress, I... Thank you," Signum said, pressing her mistress' body harder against hers. Truly, Signum thought, this warmth... was more precious than anything else in the world. Her master's fragile body... she was so strong, such an unbending, unyielding pillar that held them together and kept them going... and yet, she herself was so fragile.

Someone so strong, whom Signum could break so easily... she was like a very precious jewel, like crystal. Beautiful beyond measure, but just as brittle. It was up to her, and her fellow knights, to protect their most valuable treasure. Now and forever.

"Remember... you're mine, so you have to obey me! So stop being silly and call for help when you're facing someone who's very strong!"

* * *

"The Linker Cores in this world are all really, really weak. They're plentiful, but..." Vita said, running her fingers through her wet hair. "At this rate, Naruto will be too old to be a ninja by the time we've completed the book."

"We could start moving off world to do it," Zafira noted. "I can slip by unnoticed. Few remember to check if the housepet is gone. Even the ANBU will eventually lose track of me if I remain in animal form for a while."

Signum nodded. "Then we will begin searching for more fruitful cores off world. There's no urgency, however, so do be careful."

Zafira nodded.

Shamal walked into the room, along with Naruto, meaning the conversation was effectively over.

* * *

"The chunin exams are a right down mess," Sarutobi stated, as he watched Naruto and Vita playing some sort of ball game that involved attempting to hit Zafira while he skillfully dodged out of the way. They SAID it was dodgeball, but given that he was standing behind a red line and not allowed to fire back...

Probably some sort of hidden exercise. That, or Naruto was just sadistic. It could be. Naruto could be surprisingly sadistic whenever any of her caretakers did anything to infuriate her. It happened fairly often, given their overall attitude led to them being selfless with regards to her, which she disliked quite a bit. But he shook his head as Signum and Shamal sat beside him.

"That man... was incredibly strong and resourceful," Signum said. "And I doubt he'll go away so easily."

"You'd be right. His... pretty much his sole objective in life has, for a long time, been taking revenge against me," Sarutobi said, frowning.

"Any particular reason?" Shamal asked, somewhat deadpan.

"I passed him over to be my successor," Sarutobi said. "Instead I chose a younger, stronger and more beloved ninja than him. It is true that Orochimaru had more experience at the time... but I stand by my decision, and he confirmed it immediately afterwards by throwing the tantrum he threw. The fact that I discovered his horrific experiments shortly before he could flee..."

Shamal nodded. "Human experimentation?" she asked.

"Indeed," Sarutobi said. "But this is too grim a topic for this visit. I didn't come here to speak about business. Have you reconsidered building a pool here?" Sarutobi asked.

"The mistress rejected the idea," Signum said, shrugging. She herself wasn't opposed, or at least didn't seem to be, but Naruto seemed to be totally opposed to the idea, and hadn't ever given a real reason. Considering she liked to swim, it never made any sense. Not to them, anyway.

The Hokage had been willing to pay for it. Everyone knew he just wanted an excuse to see them in swimsuits when he came by.

Shamal smiled, and grabbed a cookie from the nearby platter. "You should try some," she said, biting into her own and savoring it. "To think that something this simple could be so delicious..."

"Naruto's always been adept at working with little," Sarutobi said, grabbing one of them for himself and taking it into his mouth whole. He didn't take long in swallowing it, before he grabbed the teacup Shamal had brought him and took a sip. "But they're a bit harsh on my throat."

"Well, they are rather heavy," Shamal agreed. "We ran out of milk and didn't quite reach the indicated amount..."

Signum sighed. "We drank all the milk before hand... my apologies," she said.

"Hm? There's a story behind this..."

"Zafira tracked a mark all the way to the Land of Frost, and then we got involved in a civil war there... Our actions were covert, but there were too many available cores not to take advantage. We cannot be traced back here," Signum explained, shaking her head.

All of a sudden, Signum's arm blurred into motion and she blocked a red ball that would've struck her in the face. "Please, be a little more careful," Signum said, before returning the ball.

Zafira looked sheepish.

Some old habits died hard, Sarutobi supposed, and one who has been trained to return an attack when it was a possibility would sometimes do so automatically, without any conscious thought.

Regardless, he took another sip of his tea. "Milk tea?" he asked, wondering.

"We bought milk since we made the cookies," Shamal stated. "We made the mix this morning," she added.

Sarutobi nodded, then focused his eyes on the game in front of him. Now it seemed like Zafira had taken offense at something Vita had done, as he was looking slightly upset. For someone who was usually the most stoic person this side of an Aburame, it was quite clear for the Hokage that something had ticked off the large man something fierce.

"But it's an easy target," Vita countered, and Sarutobi began picking up the rest of the conversation.

"It doesn't matter, it's not okay to hit me there!" Zafira said, waving his hands frantically.

"Fine. It's not like you use them, or anything, you always keep rejecting everyone who asks," Vita said, shrugging.

It was little things like that which reminded Sarutobi that despite looking all of six, maybe seven, Vita was actually older than he was, probably by a great deal.

"That doesn't matter either! It's the only part of my body I can't train," he said, shaking his head.

"Mouu, stop being mean, Zafira! It was an accident, okay? I mean, I know it's really, really mean to hit boys there, but you have to take some of the blame, too! I mean, you left it wide open!" Naruto interjected. "So, stop fighting! Or I will put you both in time out! Again!"

The two knights seemed to be chastised properly, but the game seemed to have come to an end.

"I'm bored anyway. I can't hit Zafira," Naruto said, frowning as she looked at her hands. "I'm too weak and slow..."

"Mistress, I-"

"No," Naruto shouted, cutting off Zafira before he could comment. "It would make me feel even worse if you let me hit you. I just thought that maybe... but it doesn't matter, anyway."

"Anyway, you could totally have dodged or blocked that," Vita said, "but you got distracted!"

"I've arranged things as you asked," Sarutobi said, once Naruto, Vita and Zafira seemed to be engaged in a discussion based on what they'd done right and wrong, namely, Naruto scolding them for treating her like a fragile doll, Vita complaining about Zafira getting distracted at a bad time and Zafira himself just enduring it. The old Hokage couldn't blame them, since... well, she really was fragile, and to be handled with care.

"Excellent," Signum said. "That man... his prowess with the sword was tremendous... I have to step up my abilities, myself."

Shamal blinked. "What are those arrangements?" she asked.

"I've decided that as we are right now, we aren't powerful enough to defend our mistress from everything that might mean her harm, even in this planet... so I asked Hokage-dono to set up a training session with some Shinobi who specialize in the sword arts. Depending on how well this experiment goes, I might ask that you, Zafira and Vita undergo a similar training."

Shamal frowned. "I've heard of a discipline that comes somewhat close to what fighting I can perform with my own device, but..."

"Wire techniques are more common than you'd think. While we can hardly do the same things you can with your rings, we can do some pretty interesting and nifty things," Sarutobi explained. "I know an expert with wires, who can give you quite a bit more training than you would think."

* * *

Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yuugao were a couple. Anyone who knew them could tell you that. Yuugao had even been caught in her ANBU uniform... though to her credit, she was mostly out of it... because of that relationship, as she hadn't waited until she had dropped her uniform before jumping her boyfriend.

In his living room.

The problem being that Hayate had a roommate named Genma who caught them in the act. Of course, the entire village learned immediately afterwards.

Nevertheless, the two made a good couple, both in and outside the battlefield, complimentary. Hayate preferred a more fluid fighting style that allowed him to move around the battlefield, leading his opponent where he needed them to go, whereas Yuugao, trained by the ANBU, was much like lightning, striking fast and devastatingly, retreating just as swiftly. To put it in perspective, Hayate danced around the battlefield. His thin physique and ill appearance made it seem as if the wind itself could carry him, and his fighting style certainly gave that image. Yuugao instead moved straight forward and retreated before you could even tell she was there.

Hayate would lead the opponent into revealing a vulnerability, and Yuugao would promptly attack it.

Against a single opponent, it almost always resulted in quick victory.

Keyword being... almost.

Signum was not a normal opponent, faster and more skilled than both of them... but they could keep her on her toes. Neither was on a level with Orochimaru, but together, they approached something similar. This was Konoha's true power, the power of teamwork. Two in harmony, surpassing one in perfection.

The style they used was something new, and Signum was learning of a lot of problems that she had, in particular dealing with very speedy fighters that would strike and retreat. In order to capitalize on it, Yuugao had long since taken to forgoing defense, instead relying on Hayate to defend her, while she concentrated on hitting and running as quickly and damagingly as possible.

Even tired and wounded after the training session, Signum had already decided that this had been a good idea. At the very least, she'd introduce the idea to the others.

* * *

Zafira fell into his favorite stance, something that many considered superficially similar to the Hyuuga stances, at least, those of the basic Gentle Fist.

Three ninja stood in front of him, each of them in their own approximation of a fighting stance. The fact that one of them was dressed in bright green and body tight clothing was only a small distraction at this point.

"You've improved significantly since we started," Zafira said, his eyes scanning all three of them.

"Yosh!" the most bizzarre one of the group, the one with the bright green clothing and a bowl cut, cheered. "Zafira-sensei, hearing that from an expert like yourself is indeed an honor! The fires of my youth have been stoked! If I can't achieve victory here, then I will do a hundred pushups, and if I can't do that, I will-"

"Shut up, Lee!" the only female of the group said.

"Your strength is incredible," the only serious member of the genin team stated. "I understand now why Sensei had us practice against you while he was on a mission. But Fate has decreed that you will lose."

"Fate... destiny..." Zafira said, shaking his head. "You know nothing of it. Your fatalism is ill suited to one so young," Zafira stated. It was the most verbose he'd been since they'd been introduced, and Zafira was actually finding a certain amount of... pleasure in teaching these three.

"I respect your strength, but you are as naive as all the others. These eyes... they see everything, and they see your defeat!" the fatalistic boy shouted.

Zafira grunted in effort, and moved much faster than he'd been moving before, burying his fist in the Hyuuga's solar plexus, knocking him out entirely. "A real man... makes his own destiny, with his own two fists!"

"Yosh!" Lee shouted, taking a notebook out of one of the pouches that lined his belt, followed by a pen. He wrote down Zafira's words. "You are certainly a youthful person, Zafira-sensei! Come on, Tenten, we have to avenge our fallen comrade!"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "You know he was knocked out, right? I doubt he heard it?"

Hearing that, Zafira shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said.

"Great, you're just as crazy as Gai-sensei, aren't you?"

Zafira shrugged. He was literally an alien, to them. He wondered how they'd react to his real form... but it didn't matter. He was busy dealing with Lee, as the boy unleashed all of his speed at once, while simultaneously using a steel plated vambrace he'd borrowed to block all the weapons being thrown at him by the boy's teammate.

The Hyuuga was back up, too. It seemed that not only were they skilled, they were tenacious, too.

They weren't quite at his level. Even all three together didn't present a great challenge. However, returning the favor to Gai for accepting to train with him turned out to be a more interesting experience than he'd originally thought.

Maybe he'd take up Sarutobi's suggestion, take a genin team. Training students seemed quite interesting.

* * *

"I'm a puppeteer these days," the woman said, "but I used to be famed for my wire jutsu... and I don't see what that old windbag saw in you. You're meek... you should be in a kitchen, making dinner for your husband, not being a kunoichi."

"I'm not a kunoichi," Shamal stated, a little forcefully. She was used to dealing with this sort of bullshit, usually from chauvinistic masters. She was used to presenting a firm front, no matter the insults slung her way. "And while I am not at the level of my comrades, I can still strangle you with my bare hands."

"Hah! The old windbag told you how to approach me, didn't he?" the woman said, shaking her head. "I'm just screwing with ya, kid," she said.

Shamal laughed, internally.

"Anyway, I'm sure you ain't got time to listen to my rambles. But you're the only one who's approached me in like a decade, so I don't want to waste an opportunity to pass down at least some of my skills. I will introduce myself formally. I am Utatane Koharu, former ninja."

At this, Shamal nodded. "I am named Shamal. I will be in your care."

"Anyway, you don't use normal wires, don't you? Why don't you give me a demonstration, then I'll give you what pointers I can..."

* * *

"ANYONE ELSE WANT TO MAKE FUN OF MY HAT!?"

Truth be told, her oversized hat WAS kind of silly. But clearly, telling her that was a very, VERY bad idea.

"I like my hat! You got a problem with it?"

Unlike the other three, Vita was very definitely not having as much fun with her training as she could...

* * *

I bought this chapter on eBay.

Interesting trivia:

Orochimaru's genjutsu attack is actually a shoutout to the fight between Super Buu and Gohan, in which Majin Buu at one point uses his legs, which have been cut off, to attack independently of himself.

Yes, Naruto is gleefully cheating in that game. While she's not a ninja, she was still raised in a village of ninja.

Zafira punching Neji in the stomach and talking about manliness is a reference to Bearded Idiot from Superman At Earth's End saying "Reality is you are an android, I AM A MAN!" and punching an android's guts out, which was popularized by Linkara.

Shamal actually can fight, and if you've played Gears of Destiny, then you'd know that not only can she fight, but she's actually an absolute NIGHTMARE in Close Range. She is the one who gives me by FAR the most trouble out of the Wolkenritter in melee range.

Also, every fic must include at least one scene of Vita getting angry over her hat. It's tradition. Also, why does she have the hat if it was Hayate who gave it to her in canon? Well, while Naruto is most definitely not Hayate, Vita is still Vita and she still likes bunnies, which Naruto noticed. The hat isn't exactly the same, all of their clothes have subtle differences (mostly because now they wear mostly warm weather clothing in contrast to A's canon in which they wore mostly winter clothing) and their barrier jackets are more... streamlined and less armored, because Naruto's sensibilities are colored by living in a ninja society.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 4: The Month Of The Chunin Exams

* * *

Going off world had been a little tougher than the Knights had expected. While they were not Konoha shinobi and not beholden to their rules, as in, they wouldn't be labelled as deserters or international criminals, it didn't mean they were free to move about as they wished. While they weren't super famous, they had become somewhat known figures, and people expected them to be present at certain times.

Shamal was expected in the hospital at certain times, and her not being there would be a bit suspicious. She also couldn't afford to offend Koharu by missing her lessons. The fact that she could do so many more things with her rings than she'd thought had actually inspired Shamal to learn quite a few new things, amongst them different ways to bind people. Many of them were fairly useful off the battlefield. Normally, the bindings she used automatically snapped into position where she thought them most useful, but there were lots of different ways to bind people.

It was a lot easier to work on surgery when you got people bound in the exact position you want them to be.

Using her device as weights attached to the end of a wire was also far more useful than she'd thought it'd be. Her device, despite its purpose as a healing implement, wasn't any more fragile than Graf Eisen or Laevateinn. Sure, it did not have the shape of a sword or hammer, but it didn't need to. Shamal didn't think she'd ever be a frontline fighter, and didn't wish to be in the first place, but it was much easier to work with her comrades if she could stop people from capturing her with relative ease once they closed in.

Zafira had his training with his... self proclaimed Eternal Rival, Maito Gai. Gai, and Gai's team. The three of them had made it into the Chunin exams, and Gai was actually taking the time to train all three of them. However, he couldn't quite train all three of them and at the same time keep up with his own training, so he had requested help. It just so happened to be that Zafira was looking for training himself.

Some believe that teaching things can help you understand them more than you ever would before, and Zafira was actually of the mind that it was true. He'd learned Gai's fighting style from training with the man, and helping Lee correct the differences between his own rendition of it and Gai's taught Zafira more about the style than he'd thought he could learn in such a short time. It helped that the entire team was really dedicated and motivated. Even the fatalist Hyuuga Neji wasn't one to give up even when he was overwhelmed.

Signum had actually been hired by the Hokage to provide some swordplay instruction to the ANBU, mostly because she, as well as the rest of the Wolkenritter, had a great deal of experience in all forms of assassination. Despite Laevateinn being larger than most of the weapons the ANBU utilized, there was still much she could teach them that had less to do with a specific sword style and a lot more to do with sword usage. While most of them were experts, none of them had the kind of experience one earns over centuries of being a killing machine.

Somewhere along the line, she'd also been drafted by the teachers at the academy. Apparently, one of the ANBU was a former school teacher and gave the suggestion to the Hokage that swordplay teaching should begin a lot earlier, and as such, Signum was 'invited' to the Academy once every few days, either for a demonstration and spar or for a practical lesson. Learning to hold back so she could teach children without beating them up was... definitely a new experience. It was quite a bit more difficult than just fighting at her full strength, which was surprising.

The three adults of the Wolkenritter had expected responsibilities, and people would notice they were missing, which they hadn't quite expected.

The only one who didn't have such responsibilities was Vita. She was the one who went on the hunt most often, for certain, but few knew that the Wolkenritter worked as missing ninja hunters for Konoha, and they didn't particularly advertise it. Instead of training as the others, she'd instead taken more of those missions, preferring to train herself through real combat. Just about everyone agreed that, given her temperament, it would probably end with less injuries on Konoha's personnel than forcing her to train with them would.

This meant that Vita was actually in a prime position to hunt strong Linker Cores off world. Which she did. Most of the animals that abounded around the nearby worlds were very strong, though, and most of them had evolved in what amounted to Death Worlds, also known as "Those Worlds in which Everything Is Trying to Kill You". There was an overabundance of horribly strong giant worms with too many teeth. Even worse, despite how tough they were, it was a fact that they actually gave the greatest reward for their efforts.

However, they had another problem.

Vita had returned with a noticeable wound and several bruises once, clearly too exhausted to mind herself...

... and Naruto had actually seen her.

The Wolkenritter were very loyal to their master, regardless of who it was, and they were particularly loyal to a master who would be kind to them no matter what. That was why they would act beyond that master's orders to ensure her safety and continued health. Unfortunately, their master... disagreed with their priorities.

To say that Naruto had been mad at seeing Vita beat up as she was would be an understatement.

"... why do you do this to me?" Naruto had asked, not looking so much angry as she looked disappointed. It tore at their hearts, to see their master like this, but they knew that they couldn't stop. To protect the person who would be so kind as to be worried and sad for their sake... To make her dreams come true, they'd endure any pain and heartache.

Suffice to say, Naruto had since not let Vita out of her sight. It'd taken quite a bit of convincing to allow her to let Vita leave to continue doing her job as a hunter for Konoha, but she'd forced Vita to always take backup with her. Zafira had volunteered.

It was now that the time spent as a wolf would come in handy. Most of the time spent in his animal form was spent, one way or another, hidden from view or doing something uninteresting. Naruto had nearly permanent ANBU watchers, but they hardly ever thought about him. The less people who knew about the Wolkenritter's excursions, the better.

While Vita could only go out on sanctioned 'hunts' without arousing suspicion, Zafira had a lot more freedom to move around.

* * *

The month between the second and final task of the Chunin Exams was rather calm, on most sides.

For most of it, Konoha was in a festive mood, as there were a great deal many foreign nobles touring the village since the start of the exam, as well as foreign ninja who were getting themselves acquainted with Konoha. It was true that quite a few returned to their villages, but many remained in the village to await the final exam.

It would be quite an event, after all.

In the festival, few took notice of the rather unique party that was the Wolkenritter and their mistress observing the festivities. Naruto was at the head of the group, pulling Vita by the hand as she ran from stand to stand, pointing out all sorts of crafts and arts stands as well as both foreign and familiar cuisine, both expressing her interest in trying it as well as her awe at some of the more produced foods.

"Hey, look! That looks just like the old man's hat!" Naruto said, pointing at a stand that had imitation ninja gear, as well as some of the more iconic outfits, such as the legendary fourth Hokage's white coat, or the Sandaime's samurai-inspired helmet. There was obviously a set of imitation Hokage robes along with the hat. "I wanna buy it!"

And so she did. It was actually quite expensive, but Naruto evidently liked the hat enough to sink quite a few ryou into it. Vita winced, however, when Naruto looked somewhat forlorn for a second before shaking her head. "Come on, there's lots of fun games to play!"

"You don't need to pull," Vita said, rolling her eyes as she let her mistress drag her around. Best not to let anything get you down, since if you let your mood drop, you'll make the mood of the entire party drop.

Naruto pulled Vita along nonetheless, laughing as she approached a stand that sold weird drinks, not all of which were alcoholic in nature. Naruto was curious about what her knights would be like drunk, but they all refused to drink alcoholic beverages. Of course, Naruto never really gave up trying to get them drunk. "You'll all be drunk one day, and I will be there to watch you all do all sorts of stupid things, and then I'm going to laugh!"

"What makes you think you won't be drunk, too?" Vita asked, raising an eyebrow. "You'd do all sorts of dumb things, too!"

"I said I'd be there, not that I'd be sober," Naruto replied, shrugging. "Anyway... we should all order something to drink! I just got my stipend for this month, so go crazy!"

"We've got our own money, Mistress, you don't need to spend on us," Zafira said, interrupting Naruto and Vita's chat. "We've been working so-"

Naruto rolled her eyes. "You will do as I say, and accept my generosity," Naruto said, deadpan. "So don't try to wiggle your way out of it."

"Well, that was... not unexpected," Shamal said, an amused smile on her face.

"I suppose we might as well," Signum said. "It's pointless to oppose our mistress when she's like this."

"That is true," Zafira admitted, shaking his head with a fond smile. "Very well, then."

"Let's get something to drink!" Naruto said, grinning. It did take a little while, as there were several people ahead of them in line. Naruto was disappointed when they refused the more elaborate alcoholic drinks, instead all of them choosing to buy fruit smoothies. Sure, they were all delicious (and Naruto had of course tried them all within a short time), but it wasn't funny if they weren't getting drunk and doing all sorts of stupid things...

Naruto, of course, was walking backwards and giving her disappointed stare to the knights as they continued to walk through the festival. Instead of looking properly chastising, however, she only managed to look adorable, and the smile tugging at the side of her lips every time they looked at her certainly didn't help.

"Oh, hey! Isn't that... It is! Hiya, Naruto-chan!"

Naruto blinked, turning around. "Oh! Kiba-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, grinning widely and waving her hand at the genin team on the other side of the street.

All three of them were, oddly enough, wearing yukatas. Though they did look good in them, Naruto wondered if they had switched color schemes or something. Sakura was wearing blue and white, Sasuke was wearing gray and tan and Kiba was wearing red. Even Akamaru was wearing a bright red collar instead of his usually naked neck.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Well, these two were training for the chunin exams," Kiba said, gesturing towards Sakura and Sasuke, "but I managed to convince them to come over here during at least one of our holidays," he added.

"You mean Anko-sensei forced us to take a break," Sakura said, glaring at Kiba. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

"We've been visiting the fair every weekend," Naruto replied. "I haven't seen you guys in forever! How have you been?"

"In a lot of pain," Kiba said, moaning. "Anko-sensei's brutal, and she only gets worse every day!"

Sasuke shuddered. "It's... working, I guess," he added.

"At least I get some free time since I'm studying medicine and I need time for that," Sakura said, shuddering herself. "I don't know how you two can go all eight hours..."

"So you're gonna become a medic like Shamal?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"Well... I'll try," Sakura said. "Anyway, how have YOU been? We haven't seen you, either!"

"Bored! A lot! Everyone's been working so hard, that I've been really lonely and without anybody to play with," Naruto said, pouting and turning around to glare at the knights, who looked a bit contrite. "But I'm sure that's boring, too, so why don't you tell me what you've been doing for training?"

"So many snakes... why did it have to be snakes!?

Vita blinked. "Okay, now I'm interested..." she admitted.

"I saw someone investigating the corpses of the creatures I'd slain," Zafira telepathically commented, his eyes closed.

"It was a given they'd pick up on us, eventually," Shamal replied, smiling as Naruto laughed at the explanation given for how Anko motivated her students to run past the limits of their legs.

Zafira frowned. "My apologies. I should've been more discrete," he admitted. "If I hadn't killed them, then-"

"It's no use lamenting now. It's unimportant, at any rate. We've had much time to work with, and the book is almost complete," Signum stated, looking less concerned and more supportive. "If worst comes to worst... Naruto-chan can always reabsorb us. That should be enough to complete the book."

"That is no good. I... won't accept that. Not if it means leaving Naruto alone!" Vita replied. "We'll just have to step up our gathering rate... I don't think they know where exactly we are, anyway. All we have to do is be a lot more covert! That's all!"

"And I am fairly certain she would not take that option, even if her life depended on it," Zafira said, solemnly.

"Then we will have to fight. If worst comes to worst, the bureau will provide us with the last few pages we need."

* * *

As the Wolkenritter discussed their situation, others discussed their own.

A tall woman with strikingly green hair, wearing a blue military uniform, looked over a star chart on a floating screen. It zoomed in several times, until there were a few systems instead of hundreds on it. Several systems were lit up in bright red, and she frowned.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense," she muttered. "There doesn't seem to be a clear pattern to their hunting... They are definitely somewhere in this quadrant, but..."

"Sir, they might be aware that they could be tracked if they hunted around a radius of their base, so they might be deliberately hunting in an otherwise illogical pattern," one of the bridge crew replied.

The woman nodded. "We'll have to monitor the entire quadrant as best as we can. We might need to ask for backup."

"On it, Admiral!"

* * *

"Have you thought about it, Chrono?" the admiral asked, leaning against the doorframe that led into the dully decorated quarters.

"Yes, Admiral. I've decided that it's for the best," Chrono said, nodding at her. "Fate and Nanoha will be contacted. I have no doubt what their answer will be. I don't want to interrupt their training, but..."

Chrono Harlaown hated to have to do this, but he did need help from two of the most famous civilian collaborators he knew of. Few had a rise in notoriety as meteoric as Takamachi Nanoha and Fate Testarossa. He knew those two, how they worked and their abilities... it was no wonder he trusted Nanoha and Fate with such an important operation. But this operation... It was nothing like the one prior.

This time, their opponent wasn't a dying mage barely holding onto her sanity. They were no longer inexperienced little girls, tossing around high powered spells without thinking of which one was better suited to the situation. He'd seen them in training, he'd trained with them on occassion, and he'd been there to see Fate be accepted into the Enforcer program.

"Then we should contact them," the Admiral said, clearly giving him a suggestion, before she turned around and left. "Oh, and, don't forget to get Amy a gift. You know that we don't like it when you thoughtless men forget important dates," she said, grinning eagerly.

"Mother..!" Chrono said, his face coloring. "My interpersonnel relationships are none of your business."

"I'm your commanding officer for the time being, so yes, it is part of my business, and I'm also your mother, which means I get dibs to tease you about it," she said, laughing as she left, before he could formulate a response.

Chrono took a deep breath and redirected his anger into the computer he was typing into. Sometimes he wished that he had a physical keyboard, so that he could hear the satisfying clacking of the keys as he smashed his fingers into them, maybe it'd help him get rid of the temper his mother had provoked. However, he didn't let it keep hold of his mind for long, and instead, he opened an old document he'd received quite a while ago.

Rereading it, he frowned and dug into one of his pockets, retrieving a silver card and bringing it up so he could examine it.

The book... it had to be stopped. It had to be stopped before it destroyed yet another world. His hand clenched around the shaft of Durandall. Could he..? In the end, could he bring himself to do it?

He hoped he could. It was their last... their only chance to seal it off for good. Eleven years of work... All for this moment. It was... not something he wished to do. Much as he wanted to see its threat ended...

To say that he didn't like the way it had to end would be an understatement.

Chrono's eyes closed as he waited for the Asura to reach teleporting distance of the coordinates the tracker had given for the book. Admiral Gil Graham's work was exemplary in many aspects, and he'd dedicated too much to this operation. Chrono would not disappoint the man who'd helped raised him by failing now. They'd detected the general vicinity of the book. With a bit of luck, the knights would reveal themselves once more, and they'd be able to track them to a single planet, narrowing the search even further.

Leaving the bridge, and ignoring the calls from around him, Chrono retired to his room. He had to meditate on what was coming.

* * *

Naruto giggled excitedly as she watched the impressive shinobi fights below her, from the Kage Box, seated on the Sandaime Hokage's right side. Normally, only Kage would be in the aptly named Kage Box, but Naruto had begged to be allowed to watch the fights, and her pout and teary eyes had been classified as a lethal weapon, as of late, so she'd gotten her way regardless.

Really, Naruto could be a spoiled rotten brat at times, and it was only her innate ability at manipulating her own cuteness as well as her less than favorabe situation that let her get away with it. Being close to the Hokage didn't hurt.

It took quite a bit of convincing to send the Knights away, since it'd be quite a bit harder to swing armed bodyguards past the Kazekage, and the man would jump at the chance to bring his own security. Since it was a stupid idea to allow a Kage to bring an entourage with which he could distract Sarutobi long enough to assassinate him, they had to forgo Naruto's usual protection detail. Allies or no allies, the Kazekage was still a foreign ninja, and it'd be almost insulting if he didn't at least make an attempt at stabbing such a well presented back.

It was just normal ninja etiquette.

Of course, there was also the fact that the Kazekage had been acting suspicious for a long time now.

"They're all so strong..!" Naruto muttered, mostly to herself. "What's that?"

"That's called a war fan," Sarutobi said. "Though I'm sure Kazekage-dono could explain it more thoroughly than me, right?" the Hokage asked, turning to the Kazekage.

"Don't sell yourself short, Professor," the Kazekage said, shaking his covered head. "Regardless, I suppose I can. The War Fan is an old and well known traditional weapon of Suna. Its use was born of the need to stop the massive sandstorms that assault the village proper every fortnight or so. Any given wind jutsu wouldn't be enough, and so, instead of having to rely on massive teams of wind users, the War Fan was developed. It looks like any normal, if gigantic, fan, but it's actually covered with seals making it tougher and more able to channel wind chakra, which paper excells at."

"So... it's basically an amplifier for wind ninja magic?" Naruto asked.

"Put simply, yes, it works like that," the Kazekage said. "It is a very difficult weapon to handle, and my daughter-"

"Just lost it," Naruto commented.

Indeed, it seemed the Kazekage's daughter had lost 'it', and by it, Naruto didn't mean the fan. It appeared her opponent had gone and done something to anger her, as she had opened her fan fully and was now sending massive waves of wind to ravage the land before her, while her opponent seemed to be dodging for dear life. "Temari needs more discipline," the Kazekage stated, simply.

"That she does. If an insult as simple as "You should stay in the kitchen and bring me a sandwich when I ask for it" can rile her up to this level," Sarutobi said, shaking his head. "I actually have ninja who specialize in taunting people. I'm pretty certain they'd be able to make her explode if her temper is this poor."

"I thought that was a rumor," the Kazekage said.

"Ninja who specialize in taunting people are a fairy tale," Sarutobi said, waving his hand.

"That sounds really, really fun though. How did she know what that guy said, old man? We're really far!" Naruto said.

"I can read his lips," Sarutobi said, shrugging.

"He's facing the other direction," Naruto said, frowning.

"I'm just that cool," Sarutobi replied, giving her a cheeky grin.

"Uzumaki-kun, I am fairly certain he heard it when the announcer repeated it. You were just not paying attention," the Kazekage supplied.

"Mou... that's cheating!"

Incidentally, Temari was stopped by the announcer, one Gekko Hayate, before she could actually catch her opponent in one of her jutsu fully, instead of the four glancing hits the boy had taken. It'd been enough to nearly shred him, and so he was carried off the arena while Temari was told to calm down or face disqualification for unruly behavior.

The announcer took a microphone that a stage hand ninja gave him and cleared his throat. He sounded somewhat bored. "And now, could Uchiha Sasuke and Kankuro of Suna report to the arena? If you don't, you'll be disqualified, and that'd just suck."

"He is putting a lot of energy into this, isn't he?" the Kazekage stated, dryly.

"To be fair, I saw what we interrupted to draft him to do this. I don't blame him for being unenthusiastic," the Hokage stated.

"What could possibly be so important that he would protest in such fashion?" the veil covered man asked.

"I think Signum said her name was Yuugao, right?" Naruto chirped.

"... Huh. Well, I'd be angry, as well," the Kazekage admitted.

Before long, Sasuke and Kankurou had faced off. Much like the prior battle, there was very little in the way of contest in this one.

"YOU THINK YOU KNOW SHIT ABOUT POISON!? I'LL SHOW YOU POISON!"

Kankuro had learned that you don't ever want to try hallucinogenic poison against a student of Mitarashi Anko, because they're already crazy, and will just go crazier. The fact that Sasuke was currently chasing him while wielding Crow as a club and swinging it around like a lunatic was just icing on the cake. He wound up forfeiting when Sasuke shrugged off four different kinds of lethal poison and spat a glowing purple glob that melted halfway through Kankuro's metal plated headband before he could remove it.

"... I... don't think we can blame Kankuro for this," Sarutobi said. "He couldn't have expected his opponent would have a psychological breakdown midfight."

"But shouldn't he have gathered some information on his opponents or something?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. "I mean, whenever Signum, Vita or Zafira are going to fight somebody, they always try to gather as much information on them as Konoha has," she noted.

"She is right," the Kazekage said. "Let me be the first to say that, weren't it for your unfortunate condition, you'd have made a splendid ninja, Naruto-chan," the Kazekage said, absent mindedly patting her head.

Naruto giggled. "Thank you," she said, grinning.

"Kankurou should've researched his opponent. I believe just asking around would've yielded an answer. Mitarashi is... not particularly low profile, and neither is Uchiha-kun. Still... his breakdown was very well faked. It almost convinced me."

"Oh, you noticed?" Sarutobi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes, I've seen my fair share of crazies. They are rarely as efficient as Sasuke showed himself to be. No, I do believe he was faking it to intimidate Kankuro. It appears that unlike my son, Sasuke might have researched his opponent..."

After Hayate took center stage once more, he coughed a little and faced the audience... which was all around him. "Now, would Rock Lee of Konoha and... I can't pronounce that, I'm gonna try anyway, Ikutsk... Ikustu... That Guy from Ame report to the arena?"

"... It's not that hard," Naruto frowned. "Ikutsuki," she said, almost as if testing it.

"I think he did it on purpose," Sarutobi said, nodding.

The fight lasted like ten seconds anyway. Rock Lee simply ran to his opponent and decked him before he could throw his needle umbrella into the air. Just like that, it was over.

"That had to be the most boring fight yet," Naruto said. "I demand a repeat! With Lee-kun's hands tied behind his back, and a weight tied to his legs!"

"Maybe later," Sarutobi said.

"Now, will Gaara of Suna and Aburame Shino of Konoha report to the arena?"

"... Shino-kun will forfeit," Sarutobi said.

"Of course he will. Gaara being here is just a formality, after all," the Kazekage said.

Sarutobi nodded.

Naruto tilted her head, confused. However, Shino did exactly that.

"Discretion is an imprescindible part of valor. That must be commended, don't you agree?" Sarutobi asked, turning to the Kazekage.

"Truly, I do. Knowing when to fold has saved me many a hand," the Kazekage noted.

Most of the fights were quite boring, with the highlights being commentary made by the Kage. Naruto was actually treated to what amounted to two expert players critiquing everything that the newbies did wrong, and praising them whenever they showed potential or promise. The fact that those two clearly knew everything ninja from inside out certainly made a great deal of difference in whether their commentary was entertaining or not.

It was a lot easier to laugh at their jokes when you knew that they were right.

Finally, though, the matches became more entertaining as the third and final rounds approached. The semi finals had the two Kage be a lot more silent, as they chose to watch the fights and comment only afterwards, while Naruto was treated to the cream of the genin showing exactly why they'd been the ones chosen to represent their villages.

Finally, though, the finals rolled around. After a semi final round with really amazing matches, it was up to the two final contestants.

"This is it, Hokage-dono, the final fight. The pride of my village, my son Gaara, against Uchiha Sasuke, the last of an once illustrious clan. A bout for the ages, eh?" the Kazekage asked.

"Perhaps," Sarutobi admitted.

And then the fight was on. Sasuke moved really, REALLY fast! Like, he was just a blur and Naruto could barely track him fast! But it seemed that no matter what he did, he just could not pierce Gaara's defenses.

However, it seemed that Sasuke had one ultimate plan.

And like any good Uchiha, it had him defaulting to what his clan did best.

Kill it with fire. And if fire doesn't work, then it's because you're not using enough fire.

It turned out that the sand shield wouldn't really work against heat, so to speak. Which meant that while Gaara was not being hurt by the flames themselves, he was being cooked alive the more he remained close to the fire. Running away didn't help, since whatever technique Sasuke had used seemed to chase Gaara no matter where he went, even if Gaara created walls of sand, the fire just parted and flowed around them.

Eventually, he was surrounded by fire and cornered, at which point he created a sphere to shield himself. That turned out to be an even worse idea, however, as now he was practically in a sealed oven.

However, when it parted, what emerged wasn't a piece of toasted boy...

No.

What came out of the sphere was instead half a boy, and half a monstrosity made of sand.

Feathers rained down the stadium.

* * *

Hoo.

Interesting Trivia:

Gai thinks Zafira has a Hip and Cool attitude, but is nevertheless a very youthful person.

One of the nearby worlds that the Wolkenritter visited resembles a primitive Tuchanka. The overpowered worms are Thresher Maws.

Konoha is abusing the hell of the massive influx of tourists during the Chunin Exams, and that is why there appears to be a month long festival. It's basically a bunch of merchants, both nomadic and sedentary, setting up shop to try and get the most out of the visitors, every weekend.

It has been quite a while since the plot of the original series. Nanoha and Fate are both 10 going on 11 and Chrono is 15 going on 16. He STILL looks a lot younger than he is. He is already dating Amy, if you couldn't guess. Fate has not yet been adopted because adoption procedures take forever.

The ninja who riled Temari up is Abumi Zaku, also known as 'That Guy Who Had His Arms Exploded By Shino'.

Sasuke did indeed look up Kankuro and learned a bit of info about Gaara. Pretending to go absolutely bugfuck nuts was a ploy to play on Kankuro's learned fear of crazies. It worked.

The name 'Ikutsuki' and people struggling to pronounce it is a reference to Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3, where the Chairman of the Board for the school has the name 'Ikutsuki' and when he introduces himself, he remarks on how hard it is to pronounce.

Sasuke is faster, stronger and more skilled than he was in canon, because his teacher isn't a lazy jerk. She's just a colossal bitch, not lazy at all. Instead of relying on a suicidal technique (because approaching Gaara is suicidal and Sasuke only survived it in canon because of sheer plot armor), he instead developed a remote-controlled fire jutsu. It's unconsciously based upon Amaterasu, which he saw Itachi do (and which is engraved into his mind because Sasuke already had a Sharingan at the time of the massacre, but it's trauma-locked).

At this point, Sasuke doesn't even know his main affinity is actually lightning, and he does not have a Cursed Seal because Orochimaru was interrupted by Signum, who could get there a lot faster than Anko, before he could give it to him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 5: War

* * *

"I was waiting, Orochimaru," Sarutobi stated, cracking his neck. "I was wondering how long it'd take for you to reveal that ugly face of yours. You used to be pretty, you know?"

"I dunno, old man, he's kinda pretty..." Naruto said, tilting her head. "In a really weird sort of way, too..."

"Naruto-chan, we're about to have a battle to the death here," Orochimaru said, smiling somewhat sinisterly. "I have no interest in killing you and doing so would make me very dead, very fast. But please, refrain from insulting me nonetheless. That's mean."

"We are not seriously having this conversation," Sarutobi muttered.

"Yes, we are," Orochimaru said. "Now, since I don't want to be killed horribly, I would say that we'd have to remove Naruto from the equation, wouldn't you say?" Orochimaru asked, turning towards Sarutobi.

"Well, yes, I'm sure my knights would-"

"While I'm sure they'd be angry, there are... others who have a vested interest in your survival, and I've already angered them enough as is," Orochimaru said, evenly.

"I'm surprised you're showing even this much forethought. You've always been the most reckless of my students," Sarutobi said, cracking his neck.

"Aren't you thinking of Jiraiya?" Orochimaru wondered, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"No, no. Jiraiya's problem is that he knows that what he's doing is stupid. He just does it anyway. He's less reckless and more, well, an idiot," Sarutobi said. "You, though? You're not an idiot. Or you wouldn't be, if you'd just stop to think."

"Uhm... you're gonna have a really epic fight, right?" Naruto asked. "That means I should get out of here, probably..."

"No. That'd be unnecessary," Orochimaru said. "What do you say we move this fight elsewhere?"

"Mistress, it's chaos outside, we have to move!"

Vita had crashed through the wall. Right next to the window. Given everything that had happened, Naruto wasn't sure if she was even in the real world anymore, or if this was just a really bizzarre dream.

Shamal accompanied Vita. "Signum and Zafira have already cleared out a path. We'll have to avoid the skies, we can't fly very fast if we're carrying Naruto, and we're easy targets!"

Vita grabbed onto Naruto, causing her to squeak. "Sorry, but we don't have time!" she said, as the two knights retreated with their mistress.

"Well well, now that we are alone, shall we get started?"

To be fair, they didn't remain in the Kage Box for much longer, anyway.

* * *

A mere minute after they'd taken to the air, the two of the Wolkenritter tasked with guard duty saw a massive purple box surround the upper half of the building the Hokage had been in. The uppermost floor exploded, showing the Hokage, out of his robes, and Orochimaru, in the same outfit Signum had described him in, staring down each other.

"You guys... you have to help him! I know the old man's badass, but he's not invincible!" Naruto yelled, trying to squirm out of Vita's grip. "I'll be fine, go ahead and help him!"

Shamal shook her head. "I know how to help him quickly. Vita, go ahead, I'll catch up later."

Vita nodded. "Let's go, mistress, Shamal's got this!"

Naruto nodded. "Don't you dare let anyone lay a finger on you, okay?" she asked, glaring determinedly at Shamal. Her fellow blonde merely nodded with a smile. Naruto was forced to take in a sharp intake of breath when Vita accelerated them down, trying to avoid the skies where they were easily visible.

* * *

Signum and Zafira had cleared a workable path and seen Vita through it, though Naruto had insisted on covering several civilians as they too tried to find shelter from the chaotic fighting. They had to stick to less travelled roads, but eventually, they joined up with a bigger contingent, being herded by several chunin and teams of genin.

Zafira's animal features were out, and quite a few people were surprised long enough to be taken down without fuss.

Now that their mistress was away in safety, it was time to join the fighting for her home. While they held no loyalty for Konoha, nor did they truly wish to defend it for themselves, it was their mistress' home, and it was the place which she had once dreamed of ruling. Therefore, it was the place that the Knights of the Cloud would defend with their lives.

Provided, of course, that it didn't go against their prime directive, for obvious reasons.

That was why Signum and Zafira began cutting a path through enemy shinobi in vicious and bloody fashion. This... this was their element. The kind of carnage they unleashed was not foreign to them.

Deep down, on some level, they were tools of war. Made to protect, but just as able to destroy. And it showed. Whereas others hesitated or grew weary, the Wolkenritter managed to shine. Their allies around them seemed to gain new morale as they saw the tide of a fight that had caught them by surprise be turned. Little by little, Konoha had begun to repel the attackers.

The already well known legends or legends in the making began to shine.

Even old monsters in retirement came forth.

Weakened by age as they were, the Sandaime's old teammates were tempered by experience and honed by wisdom into a peerless edge, and they cut through the enemy like a wind jutsu through wheat. Even the old and crippled warhawk, Shimura Danzo, had made it clear why he was once considered Hiruzen's only rival.

The Hokage's own son had taken leadership of a sizable band of chunin and had actually managed to retake several of the key points that the invaders had taken at the start of the invasion, including the communications office, which re-established communications for the Konoha shinobi.

Maito Gai was making his name as Konoha's Azure Beast well known and feared, blazing through the battlefield at ridiculous speeds and leaving nothing behind.

Even at the lowest level, the genin showed the famous Will of Fire, working in tandem to overpower dangerous opponents, with the Genin Teams that had participated in the exam displaying why they were chosen as worthy to represent Konoha in a different kind of battlefield than that of the Exams.

While Signum would never love this village, she could understand and respect her mistress', as she saw it react to an attack. However, even if she believed they'd be fine without her help, she couldn't just return to her mistress and wait until the invasion was over, much as she wished to. She would not forgive herself if she did nothing while others fought around her.

"The enemy has summoned great beasts," Zafira mentioned through telepathy.

Signum nodded, closing her eyes. "I will take care of things on this side. Go help with that," she said.

Zafira nodded, and the two separated.

* * *

A sand jounin held a bunch of kids... no, genin, hostage. He was pointing a glaive at them, while seemingly trying to intimidate them into surrender.

The reasons why escaped Signum, but the proper procedure did not.

The children were horrified when Laevateinn's tip emerged from his chest in a shower of blood before he could react.

"It's war," Signum said, glaring at the genin that gathered before her. Soldiers? No... Children. Barely trained children who had the strength to kill many, but the discipline of civilians, at best. Terrified. Green. The fact that they were wounded and dirtied suggested that they'd been fighting for a while now. Probably exhausted. She pulled Laevateinn back and ignored the squelching sound of her blade leaving the chest cavity it'd just pierced through. "Fall back to the bunkers, protect the civilians as you move," she ordered.

"W-Who are you?" one of the genin asked.

Signum ignored the question. "Do as I say, genin," Signum said, simply, and turned around. She had to find her mistress and she had to find her NOW.

"B-But, sir, the bunkers! That guy said they'd trapped them before hand!" one of the genin said.

Of course, the man would've blabbed. He never could have expected Signum to drop by and slay him before he could end the lives of the only people who he'd told his plans to. She sighed and began formulating commands within her mind, even as she began to pick off Roof-hopping invaders, several of which met their end just before they could jump an unsuspecting Konoha shinobi.

* * *

While Signum was busy rescuing genin teams, Zafira had reached the walls, which had been breached by truly gigantic snakes, some of which had multiple heads.

He was able to catch one by surprise, elbow dropping it into the ground so hard it dispelled right then and there. However, it seemed that the nearest one caught sight of him and, identifying him as the biggest threat around, lunged at him as quickly as it could. For such a huge beast, it was pretty quick, but...

Zafira stopped the massive snake with one of his hands, the veins on his right arm bulging as he poured all of his strength into keeping the gigantic reptile at bay.

It would've been a lot easier if the creature wasn't able to use chakra to give itself a better grip on the ground with which to push, but Zafira nonetheless held it back.

Without a word, he grunted and used his other hand to punch it, disrupting its concentration on pushing for a second, and then pushed it back with all of his strength, tossing it behind the wall the snake had just punched through. Concentrating, he cast a binding spell, causing chains to erupt from the ground and wrap around the creature, pinning it down to the rubble of Konoha's great wall.

It didn't take long for the surrounding Shinobi to attack it with their jutsu, causing the summon to dispell.

Taking a moment to regain his breath, Zafira nodded at a man only slightly taller than himself, with a wild white mane. The man stood on a roof, putting him at an almost equal level to the airborn Zafira. "Go find your mistress, I'll summon mine to take care of these," the man said.

"Acknowledged," Zafira said, turning around and flying away.

* * *

Shortly after Vita and Naruto joined a larger group of civilians, someone had tossed an exploding tag into the group, causing it to scatter and panic. Vita had easily shielded Naruto, and the tag hadn't done so much as ruffle her clothes behind her shield, but it was nonetheless annoying. The fact that there seemed to be an endless number of the sound freaks with modified bodies didn't help, since they seemed to love killing defenseless civilians.

Deciding that she had to get her away from the fighting, Vita merely grabbed onto Naruto and rushed after some of the genin that had been guarding the convoy of people. They'd ducked into an alley, though it was clear that they'd been chasing someone who now lay either unconscious or dead. Vita couldn't bring herself to give a crap. "You. Carry her," Vita said, gesturing towards the sole female of the genin team, a blonde girl who looked offended.

"What, who do-"

"I gave you an order, Genin, and you will carry it out or I will kill you right here for insubordination!" Vita shouted. "Mistress, you have to go with them."

"Vita, you can't-" Naruto began, but she was cut off.

"I'll be fine! I won't let a single one of these maggots hit me!" Vita said, "now go, get to safety! I'll stop our pursuers here!"

The three genin, clearly frightened, took Naruto with them and after the physically largest one of them picked her up in a bridal carry, they set off.

Someone tried to get them with a hail of kunai, but a glowing red glyph stopped the attack.

"If you want to get to them, you'll have to get through me!" Vita challenged, sweeping her hammer across the air in front of her before swinging it down and smashing it against the ground, creating a sizable crater. "Come at me!"

And so they did.

Over and over and over again. Their numbers seemed endless. More than Vita expected, at any rate. She hadn't intended to get sidetracked this much. She had to get back to Naruto, she'd merely sent her ahead so she could be safe, which she wouldn't be with just some genin for guards.

"I have to go," Vita muttered.

"You ain't goin' anywhere, missy!" a tall woman wielding a battle fan said, grinning sinisterly. "You killed a bunch of us, but you're probably already exhausted!"

"And we saw you protecting that girl. When we get past you, we're gonna hunt her down, and then we're gonna-" her partner, a large man with a battle hammer, spoke until he was cut off when the shinobi around them didn't wait and just leaped to attack Vita.

"How... how dare you!?" Vita roared, swinging Graf Eisen in a wide, sweeping arc. The hammer increased in size tenfold, unexpectedly, as it expelled the spent cartridges she'd just used. It broke through and crushed no less than a dozen shinobi who'd jumped her at once. "GET OUT OF MY WAY, INSIGNIFICANT INSECTS!" she yelled, as enraged Sound and Sand invaders poured into the alley. Given the fact that Vita had been swinging her hammer for a while, and using shinobi as wrecking balls, the buildings on both her sides were on the berge of collapsing, given the damage she'd done to their sides.

They'd even cut off her avenue of escape in the way of flight, simply by having several stand in the walls, ready to attack her if she went up. Clearly, they were a lot better informed than they should be about her capabilities.

"KILL HER! KILL HER NOW!" someone roared, and several elemental jutsu came Vita's way.

No matter. Well informed or not, trash was trash.

"Panzer," Graf Eisen informed, and a barrier formed around Vita, keeping her safe from the fire and lightning that came her way, and when the barrier was taken down due to continued abuse, she simply used Graf Eisen itself to knock aside the large stone spear that had pierced through.

"I don't have time for this! Graf Eisen!" Vita yelled

"Raketenform!" her hammer responded.

Luckily, her dress was already red.

* * *

Shamal withdrew her hand from the Mirror of Travels. The barrier separating the Hokage and Orochimaru from the world fell as soon as Shamal drained the core of the fat ninja holding the barrier together. There were another two quite small cores, and it took a few moments of adjustment before she was able to drain both at once, killing yet another of Orochimaru's bodyguards. A symbiotic relationship between two Linker Cores? A primitive form of Unison? Whatever it was, the Book now held it in its archives.

After she was done saving the Hokage, and as soon as she watched the ANBU swarm in to take down the other two living operatives as well as aid their leader with the most well known traitor in the entire country, Shamal turned around and frowned for an instant as she saw the wounded before her. She had no time for this. Her vows as a medic, once so important, probably, faded to the background, superceded by one a million times more important in her mind, one that she would uphold at the cost of all others.

Shamal would betray everything but her master, and now, her last vow called for her to ignore the wounded on her own side to turn around and search for her mistress. Extracting her from the Barrier had been more difficult than expected, but fortunately Vita could keep the enemy Shinobi off Shamal long enough to pull it off.

Unfortunately, the first thing she'd done upon seeing Shamal was to give her the order to aid the Hokage, and almost did the same with Vita before the smallest knight insisted Shamal could handle it and Naruto's own protection was leaps and bounds more important at that point. An attack by enemy shinobi thwarted by the prompt arrival of a man in green spandex cemented the urgency and Vita just wound up grabbing Naruto and flying away.

Closing her eyes, Shamal entrusted herself to Klair Wind and opened her senses fully, taking in the carnage going on around her. She increased her scrying radius until she could feel her master's power, and promptly shot off as fast as she could, realizing her master was alone with a bunch of people who could not defend her, Vita being a short distance away, detained by several fairly strong shinobi.

* * *

Signum's command rang loud and clear. The Civilian Bunkers were compromised. It didn't take long for the Yamanaka to relay it to as many shinobi as they could. It took even less for the Shinobi guarding the bunkers to snap into action and begin clearing out the lethal traps set all along the tunnels beneath the Hokage Monument.

However, it was for naught.

A gigantic monstrosity of Sand and chakra rose, towering above the Hokage monument. It opened its mouth and vomited a torrent of energy upon the massive show of Konoha's respect for their leaders, reducing it to rubble and destroying any and all within, or trapping them within rubble.

* * *

Naruto was caught in the blast, being not far from ground zero, and she was flung into the rubble of a building that had been knocked down. Unfortunately, she hit an exposed broken pipe, sharpened into a spear. It went through the right side of her body, piercing through one of her kidneys, and came out the left side, just past the belly button. She was also pelted by dust and debris, causing several cuts and scrapes to form on her body. Suffice to say, her nice yukata was ruined, as well.

"MISTRESS!"

Oh. How odd. Despite how hard Vita seemed to be yelling, and the fact that Naruto could see all twelve of her swimming in front of her, she could've sworn the girl had to be a few kilometers away, given how distant she sounded. Oh, well. A nap seemed like a good idea. She was so tired.

* * *

A flash of silver greeted Naruto, even as she basked in the warmth.

* * *

Naruto's eyes opened slowly, because her eyelids were just so heavy... but the light was annoying, and it wouldn't let her sleep. She'd been having a nice dream, where a lady with pretty eyes was patting her head. "Uwa... Shamal..? Did you dye your hair..?" Naruto asked, sleep dragging her speech and causing her to somewhat slur her words.

"Mistress, I need you to listen to me, okay? Just focus on my voice and block out everything else. Look into my eyes, don't look away. Try to keep your eyes open as much as possible, but don't look away," Shamal said, though Naruto wondered what she was going on about, or why she sounded so serious.

Naruto blinked, slowly, having to force her eyes open. "So sleepy... turn off the light... wanna go back to my dream..."

"Don't, Mistress, don't fall asleep. Stay with me," Shamal ordered, one of her hands lightly slapping Naruto's cheek, bringing her a little more awareness. "Now, I'm going to need to deactivate the numbing spell in order to begin healing you. This will hurt immensely. You've been wounded pretty badly. Please, forgive me, Mistress, but you'll have to bear it. Here, bite on this..."

Shamal presented a rolled up bunch of fabric, which Naruto vaguely recognized had once belonged to her yukata, given the color. "Dun wannaa..." Naruto refused, trying to shake her head, only to find that she couldn't, and when she opened her mouth to protest further, Shamal shoved the piece of fabric in between her teeth.

Naruto couldn't quite complain following that.

She was busy screaming.

* * *

"What is this thing!?" Zafira asked, yelling as he dodged under a gigantic ball of tightly compressed wind that flew harmlessly into the sky. He took the chance to ram the sand creature tossing those things around, and barely managed to make it stumble even slightly. His wolf form was physically stronger than his humanoid form, and even it failed to overpower this creature.

"A CORPSE!" Vita roared, as she swung up her hammer. It extended until it was several times longer than she was tall. "GRAF EISEN! GIGANTFORM!"

"Gigantform!" Graf Eisen confirmed, ejecting all the rest of the cartridges Vita had remaining.

"Oh hell no!" the creature screamed, bringing its massive tail forward and crashing it against the hammer just as it swung down. The tail exploded in a shower of sand, but it'd slowed down the attack enough that the creature could stop it with its hands.

Signum had remained wholly silent since the bout had begun, and only now had leaped back, putting distance between herself and the monster she'd been almost uselessly hacking away with Laevateinn at. With a fully serious scowl, she brought sword and shaft together. "Laevateinn!"

"Ja! Sturmwinde!"

The arrow appeared in Signum's hand. Laevateinn knew her too well.

The massive beast pushed back Vita even with Graf Eisen at the very limits, and opened itself up for an arrow shot to the very top of its forehead, where its summoner remained half revealed. Signum knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that such had to be a weakpoint.

"You thought I wouldn't see ya there!" the beast taunted, turning on Signum. However, before Signum could release Sturmwinde, she was struck by the beast's speedy wind bullet, shot before she even had a chance to register the creature begin to attack.

While the sphere of wind was very weak compared to the other ones it'd tossed around, it was enough to toss Signum's aim off its intention, and as such, she struck the beast's right cheek and lower jaw, destroying much of its face and tearing its right arm from its place, but doing little in the way of real damage, as it began to regenerate almost instantaneously.

Zafira tried to capitalize on its moment of weakness, after Signum revealed her thoughts on what its weakness was, but when the wolf had approached the boy on top of the sand beast's head in an effort to dig his teeth into the kid's neck and end the fight, the sand around the boy came alive and attempted to impale Zafira, prompting him to retreat before finishing the job.

Panting, Vita approached Signum, and Zafira quickly followed, allowing the Wolkenritter to regroup and get their breath back even as they watched the creature grin in what was clearly smug superiority, regenerating from its wounds even as they all stood. "Its energy levels aren't depletting," Signum said, frowning.

"Ours are," Zafira said.

"I don't care! This thing has to die!" Vita said. "I'll kill it even if it's the last thing I do!"

"You have no more cartridges and I'm running out of energy myself. How are you, Zafira?" Signum asked, her tone cold and fully level.

"Other than a broken rib along with a few cracked ones and general exhaustion, I'm still good to go," Zafira said. To some, the casual dismissal of such grievous injuries would be insane. The fact that he hadn't even mentioned the arm popped out of its socket was... well, he had just popped it back into place and it'd only start hurting once the adrenaline wore of, so that was a bit more understandable.

But the Wolkenritter were enraged beyond measure at this moment, and so self preservation was a very distant concern. "This is bad," Signum said, glaring at the creature, which seemed to have recovered to full and was now laughing maniacally.

Her eyes widened as its arms nearly blurred, moving incredibly fast. All three of the Knights in the air were forced to disperse, lest they be caught by the wide open hand that came down upon the air they'd occupied just a second ago. But the nightmare didn't end there, as the beast's left arm and tail took advantage of the opportunity to grab both Vita and Zafira as they dodged the first attack.

"Gotcha, dorks!" the creature yelled, clearly amused.

Signum had a moment of realization at the trap it'd pulled before she herself was captured by the beast's right hand, surprised once more by its incredible speed despite its size.

"Hehe, got all of you!" the beast said, its gaping hole of a mouth forming a terrifying grin. "Now I'll crush you, and there'll be blood everywhere! It'll be great!"

Summoning all of their magical strength left, all three of the Wolkenritter set up the best physical defenses they could as they struggled to remain alive as the creature began to squeeze the life out of them. Even so, they refused to give it the satisfaction of hearing them scream, though the beast began to encourage them to do so by taunting them.

* * *

Naruto blinked, and when her eyes focused, she half expected Shamal to have silver hair. "Mistress... I've taken care of the worst injuries, and you're stable now. I will proceed to evacuate you from the battlefield, and lead you to a safe place," the taller blonde said, lifting Naruto in a bridal carry.

"Shamal-sensei, they're too many! We can't keep them off you much longer!"

Huh... "Whuzzat?" Naruto asked, still feeling groggy and quite out of it.

Shamal bit her lip. "Sakura-chan, we're done here, tell Sasuke and Kiba you have my thanks. We just need to move Naruto somewhere safe!"

"The bunkers are rubble, there ISN'T a safe place!" Sakura yelled.

"What's happening..? What's that noise?" Naruto asked. Now that she was a little more awake, she could begin to discern what the sounds around her were. The clanging of steel, ugly squelching noises every once in a while, screams everywhere, random undecipherable yelling, the sound of fire crackling, distant roars, explosions...

But all of that was background white noise, drowned in an instant, when Naruto focused entirely on Shamal. "Shamal... where are the others?" she asked.

"They're out there fighting, Mistress, like you ordered," Shamal said, though her tone was guarded.

"You're hiding something from me. I am your master, you will obey me because you belong to me. Tell me the truth right now, Shamal!" Naruto said, her voice imperious.

It threw Sakura, who had never seen Naruto so much as raise her voice, for a loop. All the missions they'd had at that compound, and only now did she ever hear Naruto talk to her guardians and knights in any tone that wasn't cheerful or kind.

"I... my apologies, mistress. The others are confronting the one who did this to you, the one tailed tanuki," Shamal said, gesturing with her head towards the battle that was taking place not three kilometers away. Naruto's eyes focused, and she noticed the beast seemed to be holding three things in front of it.

It didn't take long for Naruto's ears to pick up the beast's gloating.

* * *

_"Awaken."_

* * *

"Forgive me, mistress," Signum said, as she felt the last of her strength give out. She prepared to face death with dignity, silently and glaring at her killer. She knew for a fact that Zafira had reached a similar conclusion to her. They'd lost. Fighting an entire war followed by an extremely powerful beast was beyond their limits... but they'd died much like knights should, defying overwhelming odds just to buy their mistress enough time to escape and recover.

"No... no way... I won't accept this! NO WAY!" Vita yelled, struggling to try and break the hold of the tail that held her hostage. "I won't disappoint Naruto! Not like this!"

Vita's last burst of strength bought her a moment to breathe, as she pushed the tail hard enough to actually break its hold for an instant, but her arms gave out before she could free herself, and she felt them break as the beast once more constricted her.

A combination of shame, anger and pain was finally enough to make Vita's iron clad control break, and she let out a shrill shriek of pain.

* * *

_"Diabolic Emission!"_

* * *

... No interesting trivia. Don't feel like it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 6: Aftermath

* * *

It hurt. Everything hurt.

But a scream that wasn't hers pierced the haze in her mind, and all that she knew was raw, undiluted and animalistic _fury_. Unstoppable, unrelenting, uncontrollable... it surged, and the pain went away as everything was covered in a haze of purplish light. That thing... that thing... it dared...

She couldn't do more than voice her anger with a worldless scream as she felt everything else but her hatred fade.

For perhaps the first time in a very, very long time, she didn't feel slightly sick. For perhaps the first time she did not feel afraid she'd tear her skin just by clenching her fist. For the first time, she savored what it was like to tighten up her muscles.

The words filled her head even before she even thought of what she needed. Sleipnir.

Before she knew it, she was already in the air. So envious, she had been, but now she soared the skies, just as they had. Just as they... they... Another wave of power surged, along with her anger, and her eyes focused on that thing.

It laughed. It taunted. It crushed.

It looked at her. Its smile faded. Words came to her once more.

Blutiger Dolch.

"Pierce Through, Bloody Dagger."

Two. Four. Eight. Sixteen. Thirty two.

Not enough. Never enough.

Decompile. Extrapolate necessary calculations. Apply. Recompile spell packet.

Sixty Four. One hundred twenty eight.

Apply premade alteration.

"Genocide Shift!"

Two hundred and fifty six.

It screamed. It knew pain.

It understood terror.

* * *

The sight was...

Intense, to say the least.

Ninja understood, on some basic level, that the Tailed Beasts were creatures to be feared. That they were the end all, be all engines of destruction. They were indestructible, and their energy was inexhaustible. There hadn't ever been a recorded victory in a one on one fight with a tailed beast, ever. Even if one could survive the beast's abilities, it'd become a battle of attrition.

A regenerating beast with unlimited energy would always win in a battle of attrition.

And overpowering one was a silly idea, at best. The people who could enter the same battlefield as a Tailed Beast and leave with their lives intact were instantaneous legends, who themselves became the boogeymen of the ninja world.

Even the weakest of the Tailed Beasts was considered beyond the ability of even the elite to handle. The weakest, the Ichibi, was considered at the very least to be a threat that only the most powerful of Shinobi should engage in battle against.

It had proven its power by destroying a monument that had weathered countless sieges in sixty years... with a single blast. It had weathered dozens of high powered techniques, and then engaged in combat with three of Konoha's most powerful agents, defeating all three of them while only taking minor damage.

However...

There's always a bigger fish out there, waiting to trap you in its jaws.

And the one-tailed Tanuki learned of this as it rampaged freely.

At first, some thought that the silver haired little girl that appeared in front of the beast was going to plead with it to release the only other fliers in Konoha... But it seemed that she disturbed the Tailed Beast, for some reason... but that was the least terrifying thing about her.

A wave of her hand had made what had to be hundreds of blades in glowing blood red appear around the great beast, each as big as a grown man's arm. Typically useless weapons against the beast of regenerating sand... but where the daggers struck, the beast's sand was instantly turned to glass and shattered off.

And there were a LOT of those, all around it. The creature had, for the first time since it'd been released from its prison, actually reacted to something someone did to it, shrieking in pain and horror. And it didn't end there. It seemed that the flying girl had taken offense at the massive beast's arms and tail, as she had seemed to begin focusing on them.

Whispered, unintelligible words accompanied by mechanical echoes heralded massive golden beams in the shape of blades, which seemed to follow the motions of the girl's arm, as she used it to liberally slice off the remains of the Tailed Beast's arms. In between its shrieks, the beast had charged up an attack, which it tried to hit the flying girl with, but she merely disappeared from sight and reappeared standing right in front of the beast's forehead, where its former prison could be seen, just peeking out.

* * *

Words became clear once more.

"By the power within this hand, all things become eternal nothingness..."

It screamed. It raged. It feared.

It attacked.

"Diabolic Emission!"

It was no more.

She fell.

* * *

A massive surge of power sent alarms all throughout the ship. Chrono twitched a little.

Behind him, it was clear that both of the preteen girls that he'd been speaking with moments before were just as uncomfortable and jarred by the sudden light and noise as he was.

"We've got them. This kind of power... the Book of Darkness has activated. We've located which planet. We're heading there right now. Setting course..."

The Admiral leaned a little further back into her chair. "ETA?" she asked.

"T minus twelve hours."

The high tech bridge of the Asura would hardly be considered a comforting place. But at that moment, the Admiral felt it was the most comfortable place in the world. She knew the power of the artillery they'd brought along. With a frown, she considered the future.

She just hoped it was a bright one, once the clouds of the Book of Darkness were pierced through.

* * *

Naruto blinked, finding herself... awake? well, she was in between two pillows...

"Hello, my beloved mistress..."

Oh, hey! The pretty lady with beautiful eyes! "I know you! You appear in my dreams a lot!" Naruto said, smiling widely.

"Yes, I do," the woman said, offering her a kind and warm smile. "I've longed to hold you in my arms... you are as close to my heart as you are to the knights'," she explained. Naruto smiled and snuggled further into the bosom of the woman who was embracing her. "You've been hurt pretty badly, you know? You almost died, even..."

"I did? Uwa... I didn't notice!" Naruto said, pouting.

"But you're all better now... Almost..." the woman said, stroking Naruto's hair. "You made the wound so much worse, though..."

"I did..? What did I do?" Naruto asked, frowning. "Wait... what was I doing?"

"You don't remember? Give it a moment..." the woman said, and after a few seconds of silence, Naruto began to nod. "I'm sure they'll come back to you, eventually."

"I was so angry... but... why? What happened?" Naruto asked, frowning in confusion, before flinching. "M'head hurts!" she whined.

The pretty woman chuckled. "Everything hurts," she said.

Naruto nodded. "What's going on..?"

"You used too much power at once. Your body can't take it..." the woman said. "You're dying. You forced your linker core too hard, and your body gave up."

"I... I can't be dying!" Naruto protested, looking into her pretty red eyes. "That'd be bad! I'd be like, a hypo... hypo... uh..."

"Hypocrite," the pretty lady supplied.

"Yeah, a jerk," Naruto confirmed, nodding.

"Yes, I suppose you would be. And that's a bad thing to be, isn't it? But then again, you're always scolding them for getting themselves hurt, and then you went and did something so dangerous and reckless... But that's who you are..." the woman said, a somewhat stern tone coloring her voice even though she said her words with a smile.

"I sorry, whatever it was," Naruto said, shaking her head. "I'm sure I didn't mean to be a jerk. Maybe."

The pretty lady laughed and shook her head. "Don't worry too much about it, you're just fine the way you are. You will be fine. You have people who love you. They can save you, this time..."

Naruto frowned. "Whatever I did... it really messed me up, huh?"

"More than you'd believe," the woman said, nodding. "You might... you might not recover... that's why you need plenty of rest and relaxation, so... try not to have any sudden rushes of emotion, okay?"

"Okay," Naruto said, grinning cheerfully.

"... please, take care of your heart, it took a lot of damage," the woman said, all trace of humor gone.

Naruto shook her head. "It'll probably just hurt a little. I can take it," she said, shaking her head. "Uh... hey, this is really embarrassing, but... I don't know your name."

"You don't?" the woman asked, tilting her head in clear mock confusion. "That's okay, though. Why don't you give me a new one?"

"But... I can't think of anything..." Naruto said, frowning.

The woman shook her head and chuckled. "You don't have to do it right now. How about you think on it and tell me what you've come up with the next time we meet?"

"That sounds good!" Naruto said, grinning. "When will I see you again, pretty lady?"

"Soon... Some day, very soon..." the pretty lady said.

"That means I gotta think up something fast!" Naruto said, nodding eagerly. "I promise I will have a new name for you by then!"

"That sounds good. You're going to wake up real soon..."

The pretty lady's hold on Naruto's body tightened, and she whimpered slightly, as everything was still quite sore. Which was odd, given that she was pretty sure this was a dream.

"Please... don't forget me, my beloved mistress..."

* * *

"NARUTO!"

"Owie! That hurts a lot, Vita-chan!" Naruto whined, as her smallest knight's arms crushed her waist.

"What were you doing you- you- you insane idiot!"

If Vita hadn't taken to shaking Naruto around like a ragdoll, perhaps in an attempt to quite literally shake an honest response out of her, maybe she would've received an immediate answer. Instead, Naruto actually had to take a moment to regain her bearings. "Vita, you've got clones!" Naruto stated, before she shook her head and recollected herself. "I... can't remember... what are you talking about?"

"Mistress. You should not fight in our stead. That is our role. Please, don't put yourself in danger," Signum said, and only then did Naruto take a moment to observe the room around her. Zafira, his face somewhat amused and yet grim at the same time, and Shamal, looking worried, were both standing behind Signum, looking severe but calm. They were on the door to the room, clearly having gone in after hearing Vita yell. All of them wore casual clothing that wouldn't be amiss on a civilian's frame.

"What... what do you mean?" Naruto asked.

Vita's sobs interrupted her train of thought, however, and Naruto quickly pulled her favorite snuggle toy into the hospital bed with her.

"What's wrong, Vita-chan?" Naruto asked.

"You! You're what's wrong, you idiot!" Vita said inbetween sobs. "We all thought you would die! Don't do that! Don't you ever do that again! It's forbidden!"

"Vita's right, mistress. What you did was very risky, and it's a miracle that you survived," Zafira said.

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Naruto said, patting Vita's back and rubbing a hand comfortingly on the smaller girl's back, almost as if encouraging her to let it all out. "What happened? What did I do?"

"Do... do you really not remember? It... would make sense. The wounds would have made you go into shock..." Shamal muttered. "But still..."

"I see. Then you do not remember coming to our aid a week ago, mistress?" Signum asked.

"You did something dumb, didn't you? I'm sure you did something dumb that almost got yourself killed," Naruto said, disapprovingly. "Wait..."

It didn't take too long for Naruto to take a deep breath, clearly calming herself down as much as she could. "Mistress... I will tell you what happened," Zafira stated.

"I'll be checking up on you while he does that," Shamal stated, nodding.

Naruto nodded her acceptance and let Shamal get to work as Zafira began to explain.

"Hm... I don't remember any of that," Naruto said. "But... I do remember getting so angry at that thing when it was squeezing you guys. I've never used magic that powerful, though... I can only do basic stuff like telekinesis and weak barriers..."

"But you very definitely did. If what you have explained is right, then it fits in with what we know," Shamal said. She mused for a second and then nodded to herself. "In your rage, mistress, you must have invoked the book of Darkness' power. I had it with me at the time, so it's very likely it picked up on your subconscious wishes. Once you called upon its power, it took over your body and used it to achieve the wish you asked of it. We were only a few pages away from filling it then, but now we're missing forty more pages..."

"I see... with that kind of power... If I had that kind of power, you guys wouldn't need to fight anymore... I could fight and protect you instead!" Naruto said, grinning happily.

"No! Never! I won't let you do that ever again! It's forbidden!" Vita yelled, grabbing onto Naruto's shoulders and meeting her eyes, desperation clear. "Don't... don't do that!"

"But you guys fight so hard for me, I want to help you! I can't just stay back safe while you guys put yourselves at risk for me! That's not right!" Naruto said, frowning.

"It is, my mistress... it is how it should be. That is our duty, our role. We are your Knights, you are our mistress. We will defend you to our dying breath. We pledged our loyalty to you," Signum said, simply, her eyes closed and voice solemn.

"But... but I was a weak and helpless little girl then! If... if I can use the power of the Book of Darkness, then..."

"You would die."

Zafira's voice cut through like a knife, and everyone flinched.

"W-What?" Naruto asked, staggering back.

"Zafira's right, mistress. You used only a small fraction of the Book of Darkness' power... and it destroyed your body from the inside. I had to recreate several of your organs. Your body had cannibalized them to produce more magical energy to fuel your rampage... It's the first time I've had to use cartridges, myself," Shamal admitted. "The fact that you survived at all is miraculous, and we can't rely on something like that."

"But..." Naruto looked aside, knowing she couldn't meet their eyes. "Why... why am I so weak..? All I want... All I want is to protect you... my family, my knights... my beloved servants, why... why can't I do even that? I'm not worthy to be your master, I'm just a weak and powerless little girl who can't do anything... I'm worthless, I should just die so you can have a worthy master..."

The resounding slap of a palm on the soft tissue of someone's cheek quickly shocked everyone. "Don't you... don't you dare say something like that again!"

"V-Vita-chan..." Naruto said, her hand reaching her cheek, which was beginning to turn red. It'd likely begin to swell shortly. "Why... why are you..."

Vita had hung her head, and her fringe fell in front of her eyes, preventing Naruto from looking her right in the eye. However, Naruto could see the tears trailing down her cheeks, and Vita's teeth tightly clenched as she shook in barely contained fury. "Don't you dare! You're not worthless, you stupid dumbass! You're our mistress..."

"But... I'm only your mistress because I picked up the book, right? If someone else had it... if someone better than me had it, wouldn't it be so much better for you? If someone like the old man had it, you wouldn't waste so much time protecting and helping me..." Naruto said, her voice dejected.

"That's not true!" Shamal quickly protested.

"It's true that we originally swore loyalty to you because you were the Master of the Book of Darkness," Zafira began. "But that has since changed, mistress."

"... I, eh?" Naruto blinked, somewhat confused.

"We are tools, mistress. Nothing more, nothing less. Without fault, each and every one of our previous masters has treated us as such," she said. "We will perform whatever task is asked of us, and serve faithfully no matter how horrible or abusive our master might be. That is our role as the Wolkenritter," she continued.

"But..." Shamal began, smiling warmly at Naruto. "You showed us kindness. You showed us kindness even though it hurt you to. You shared your food, what little of it there was, with us. You bought us clothes, treated us as your family."

"We're tools, Mistress," Zafira said, smiling at her as well.

"But don't forget. We are _your_ tools, and we are your tools of our own free will," Signum added.

Vita nodded. "We are your tools not because that's what we're programmed to be... we're your tools because we love you, Mistress. I love you."

"V-Vita-chan... everyone, I... I-"

Naruto closed her mouth and shook her head. She looked a bit panicked, almost as if she didn't know how to answer.

"You don't have to be strong, mistress. You don't have to fight for us or defend us... we do that. That's what we're here for. That is what we want to do. It's the only thing we can do for you, in return for all that you've given us. So allow us this," Zafira said, solemnly.

"... I... I..."

"Mistress... you don't have to answer. But just know, we love you, and that is why we serve you willingly," Signum said.

"I can't breathe," Naruto said, a moment before darkness claimed her.

"MISTRESS!"

* * *

"We know which planet they're in," Chrono began, placing a hand behind his back and using his other hand to gesture towards the screen behind himself. "This planet here has no name, to our knowledge, and is known to the system as Unadministered World 102. There is only a single continent in it. We have narrowed down the location of the energy discharge we traced to the eastern side of the continent. Throught this past week, we've been collecting intelligence on this world. I shall let our intelligence officer Randy continue the Briefing based upon our discoveries."

Said Intelligence Officer nodded and stepped up. "This planet has no centralized government, and the continent is split in a great deal of countries. The language they speak is very similar to the Japanese Language spoken in Unadministered World 97. The devices of our field operatives have already been modified with the adequate translators corresponding to the dialect," Randy explained, before gesturing behind himself. The picture changed to a closer display of the continent.

Everyone nodded, accepting the information as they were given it.

"Now, I will proceed to explain a bit about the political situation. Each of these countries," and he gestured to the map once more, which now changed to depict every country's limits, painting them each a different color, "has a particular town in it called a 'hidden village'. What these appear to be is the main seat of each country's military power. This world has militarized its magic users, calling them 'ninja' or 'Shinobi', terms that seem to be used interchangeably. Expect them to be as disciplined a force as ourselves, but possessing of much more combat experience than your average Mage of equal rank. This world is embroiled in nearly constant warfare, which likely means that even though they might be individually weaker than a mage of equal rank, they could very well represent a major treat. Airborne artillery is recommended as flight seems to be a rarity, at best. We suspect that the only flight-capable opponents we may come across are the Wolkenritter and their master."

Randy took a moment to rest his throat and to look at everyone around him, to see if anyone had questions or if he had to repeat something. Seeing that nobody seemed to need clarification and everyone was paying attention, he shot a glance at the Admiral to see if she was approving of his performance. With her nod, he continued.

"Based on rumor, we suspect that the most likely place to find our target is here," Randy began again, tapping a spot in the center of the map. The picture zoomed in, displaying a map of the Land of Fire instead of the entire continent. "In particular, we suspect that the Master of the Book of Darkness is based out of this country's hidden village, named Konohagakure no Sato," he said, tapping the center of the Land of Fire to zoom in further, displaying Konoha and its surroundings. "Despite its name, it is in fact a city and not a village," Randy noted. "It was recently the stage of a war, and that is where the energy discharge came from, which is why we suspect the Master might be based here."

One of the soldiers called attention to himself, and Randy nodded, acknowledging the question. "Are we certain that the Master is based off of this 'Konohagakure no Sato' place? For all we know, they could've been there to conquer the place."

"We're not," Randy stated. "As I said, we are following leads that are based on rumor and hearsay. Based on intelligence we could gather, the Knights seem to be based out of Konohagakure no Sato, and have made names for themselves internationally."

Once more, Randy scanned the crowd, seeing them nod in acknowledgment of his words.

"Based on this information, we've decided to deploy agents in Konoha, and surrounding the Land of Fire. Due to the amount of distance that will be covered, most of the agents will be isolated, so it's imperative that you remember to ask for help if you come across the Wolkenritter. It's very unlikely that any one of them will wander alone, and even if they weren't, only Enforcer Harlaown and contractors Takamachi or Testarossa can safely confront the Wolkenritter one on one and expect to have even a remote chance of victory. Therefore, Enforcer Harlaown will be captaining the team that deploys in Konoha, as it is the center of our operations theather and would be the best position to be in if he needs to rush to support any other. Accompanying him will be Civilian Contractors Takamachi and Testarossa, as well as Testarossa's familiar, as it is the most likely place for the Wolkenritter to be found, and if they are, we expect difficult combat at best. The other positions will be manned as follows..."

Randy proceeded to read out the list of names and positions he'd memorized, explaining each post in detail, as well as the land they'd cover. He also stressed the importance of keeping their activities covert, as it was likely the Book's master was a sanctioned military officer and it was likely that their own actions would be seen as highly illegal criminal activity, possibly terorrism.

"Now, I return the briefing to Admiral Harlaown," Randy said, somewhat nervously.

When he had finished, Admiral Harlaown stepped up and nodded at him. "I will be coordinating this operation myself from the Asura. Remember that discretion is the better part of valor and retreating from a superior opponent is not cowardice, but intelligence. Do not be tardy in your reports and get ready to deploy. Operation begins at twelve hundred sharp. Dismissed!"

Everyone saluted her and the room soon emptied.

"Nanoha. Fate. This will be nothing like the mess with Precia. We are not fighting automatons this time. The Wolkenritter won't hesitate, and they won't hold back. We three are the only members of this operation who can deal with them in single combat, but it's... inadvisable to give them that advantage. They are Belkan knights and no doubt experts in the area of combat," Chrono said, stopping said girls from exiting the room.

"Chrono... this is really important to you, isn't it?" Fate said.

"Yes, it is. Too much is riding on this for me to fail here..." Chrono said, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I see. Then we won't disappoint you. Not after you've trusted so much in us," Nanoha said.

"I know you won't. But that doesn't mean you should get yourselves hurt. This is going to be very, very dangerous," Chrono said.

"But we can't just let this pass us by. You helped us, even though you didn't have to. You stood up for me during my trial. This is the least I can do to repay you," Fate said, nodding at him. "Even if we're not siblings yet..."

"Yes... I understand," Chrono said, nodding his head.

"Remember what the Admiral said. Retreat is not cowardice," Chrono said. "Don't die fighting a lost battle. Don't let the book take anyone else from me."

* * *

"... This is worse than I'd thought, but she's out of danger, for the time being," Shamal said, wiping the sweat that had gathered on her forehead. "The mistress' heart was more damaged than I thought it was. The implants are working as they should, for the time being, and it seems that they've settled for the moment... but this is, at best, a temporary fix."

"I see," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, interrupting the scene as he walked in, hands clasped behind his back. "The service you have performed for Konoha, there is nothing I can offer you that will repay it. You've saved mine and countless others' lives. Konoha owes you a debt that we can never repay. Anything you need of us, you have to but ask, and it will be provided."

Everyone turned around. "All is for our mistress," Zafira said, simply. "And our mistress sees this village as her home. So long as she does, we will defend it to our last breath."

"I was honestly surprised to see you supporting me instead of rushing to Naruto," Sarutobi said, freely, looking at Shamal.

Shamal shook her head. "My first priority will always be our Mistress, however, she asked that I support you," Shamal said, simply.

"Naruto is an asset to this village that it has never truly respected or appreciated as she should be," the Hokage said, simply.

"You know something that can be of use to us, do you not? Perhaps some miraculous medicine or artifact... anything that can help," Vita said, bluntly, looking at the Hokage. "You're The Professor, you know everything about this world."

"No, not everything," Sarutobi said, "and I don't know of anything in particular that can help with this, but..."

Signum's eyes narrowed, and the rest of the Wolkenritter listened in rapt attention.

"I know of someone that can help you. If there is any medical procedure or technique that can help Naruto right now, then she knows it, or at least knows of it. I've spent this past week tracking her down. I've narrowed down her location to the Land of Fire, and my spymaster is working on her exact location as we spea-"

They were interrupted by an ANBU agent, who delivered a small scroll to Sarutobi. He read it promptly, and then closed and burned it.

"Jiraiya-kun has always been extremely quick when motivated. What I came here for is to deliver this," the man said, revealing a fancy-looking, rolled up scroll that he pulled out of his sleeve. "This is an order for this person to come back to Konoha right now. Her name is Senju Tsunade, and she is the greatest medic in this world, bar none. If anyone or anything can help Naruto right now, it's Tsunade."

"You have a location," Signum said, simply.

"I do," Sarutobi said, nodding. "She is in a town called Otafuku Gai, about four hundred and thirty six kilometers that way," Sarutobi said, gesturing in the rough direction of Otafuku Gai.

"Very well. Shamal, you should stay to ensure Naruto's health," Signum ordered.

Zafira stepped up. "I'll stay, as well. My job as a Guardian Beast is to ensure our master's well being at all times. I will not fail again."

Signum nodded. Shamal nodded, as well. They both knew she did not feel insulted at all by the implication that she might not be strong enough to guard Naruto herself. She knew she was the weakest of the Knights in direct combat, and that one guard can be easily bypassed, no matter how alert the watcher remains. As much stronger as she'd grown, she was not overly proud of her combat abilities, and even her occasional trainer agreed it was better that she remain in a support role.

"Very well. Vita, we'll depart right now. I assume this 'Senju Tsunade' has a very distinct appearance, correct?" Signum asked.

"Blond, twin tails, wears mostly green, travels with a mousy looking young woman and a pig. She also has very... ahem... How do I say it? Oh, screw it. She has giant tits. Massive mamaries whatever you want to call them, and they're pretty much her most noticeable trait... also, she's got a bad temper and possesses enough physical strength to demolish buildings with finger-flicks. Just about anybody in the Land of Fire can recognize her, if all else fails, ask around. My agent will meet you as soon as he is able. He knows you'll probably drop by sooner rather than later, and knows what you all look like. He'll probably track you down once you're in the city, and will most likely be keeping an eye on Tsunade's breasts. Good luck."

"You mean an eye on Tsunade," Zafira noted.

"No, if I know Jiraiya, he's going to be looking right at Tsunade's breasts," Sarutobi said, frowning.

"He's your student, isn't he?" Vita asked, frowning in distaste.

"Yes, yes he is. But that's irrelevant."

Signum and Vita nodded. "It is," Vita said. "We don't have time for this."

"Move out," Signum commanded.

Within seconds, they'd leaped out a window and become streaks of light in the air.

* * *

Still don't feel like doing trivia. Ah, whatever. I'm sure you can point out all the references yourself.

Tell you what, if someone makes a Tropes Page for this fic, I'll gladly go back and add each and every single one of the references I'm making. At least, the intentional ones.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 7: Doctor &amp; Gambler

* * *

The directions for Otafuku Gai were accurate, and it was, indeed, the first town that they saw in the direction they'd flown in. Signum eyed the scroll had given them... They'd mutually agreed it was best for Signum to do the talking and delivery, since she could keep calm while Vita's already short temper was on an especially short fuse due to stress.

To say that it was an impressive town, given the technology level of the rest of the world, would be saying the least they could say. It was a sprawling metropolis at odds with even the comparatively modern Konohagakure. It was also one of three such cities in the Fire Country, one of the others being the Capital of Fire Country. While nowhere near the level that the Knights had witnessed in TSAB controlled worlds, it was nevertheless a very stark contrast with most other villages, towns and cities in this world.

There were enough high rise buildings that it was unfeasible to search from the sky.

However, it was almost certain that the Hokage's agent was very good, and he seemed to be informed about them. They'd need some way to call attention to themselves, but something that wouldn't cause a wide panic. The easiest way would be to fly somewhere where they were highly visible, which would lead to the Hokage's agent, hopefully, contacting them.

If the man was informed about their capabilities, then he'd know they were the only people who could fly under their own power known to exist in the world. And so they did exactly that. At the same time, they wandered about the, ahem, entertainment centers of the city. If they would be noticed anywhere, it'd be in the places with a high concentration of people.

They'd been wandering around for fifteen minutes, now, but hadn't yet heard even a peep from any Konoha shinobi. For some reason, every shinobi in this world proudly displayed their affiliation to a village, or at least made it fairly obvious and clear that they were ninja in some way, so it'd be pretty easy to spot a ninja calling them out. There was one, but he was from another village and also incredibly drunk. It was unlikely that was the Hokage's agent.

It'd be a stroke of luck that they'd just so happen to stumble upon Tsunade. Good or bad luck, however, remained to be said, since the woman appeared to be... quite drunk and rowdy. They'd flown close to a large gathering of people near one of the larger and more well lit casinos, which had quite a few decorations around it. The people were forming a massive circle, trying to peek over each other's heads, as a commotion took place in the middle of a circle.

With the vantage point they gained from the air, it was easy to get a bird's eye view on the events that were going on.

A woman in an olive green tunic with a darker green hakama thrown over it and dark pants was holding a man dressed in a very expensive looking suit by the ankle, waving him about like he were made of paper. "See! This is what you get for throwing me, the great Senju Tsunade, out of this piece of shit casino!" she shouted, tossing away the bouncer like he were yesterday's old rags.

The man flew into a pile of other large men.

"Hah! Thinking a bunch of failed genin could do shit to me," the woman said, "now what are all you fuckers looking at? This isn't an spectacle, so get the hell out of my way before I use your bodies to wipe the floor like these bozos!"

To say that she was drunk and irate would be an understatement, apparently.

Approaching her in this state would be... less than productive, at best. However, if one were to ask Signum or Vita what they thought they were far past caring about such a thing. Even if angering the woman was an opportunity, they couldn't quite waste time in pleasantries. Before the crowd even had a chance to disperse in terror, Signum and Vita dove down.

"You must be Senju Tsunade," Signum stated, blandly.

"Yeah, because I didn't just shout my name," Tsunade said. "Shizune, were the hell are you? Bring me a bottle of sake," she shouted, looking at nowhere in particular, but extending her right hand.

A mousy looking young woman walked into the ring the crowd had made, holding a pig in her hands. "Don't you think you've had enough, Tsunade-sama?" the young woman asked.

So, that completed the set. And... while Tsunade's breasts had been described as impressive, that certainly didn't do them any real justice. Even Signum felt a little self conscious when compared to Tsunade's impressive knockers.

"I'll have had enough when I'm no longer conscious enough to remember how to rearrange faces with my toes, as it is I'm just barely drunk enough to think ninja can fly" Tsunade replied. "Now, either you two are very, very rich and can afford me, or you've got something actually important to tell me."

"Something very important, yes," Signum continued, just as blandly, trying to keep perfectly calm. She could hear Vita grinding her teeth beside her. "I have something for you from the Hokage."

"Huh. Did the old far remember he's three months late for my birthday?" she said, snorting. "Tell him I'm not interested."

"I'm afraid we aren't asking for you to take it," Signum said.

"So? What are you going to do about it?" Tsunade said, cracking her neck and knuckles.

Signum lifted the scroll she was carrying in her right hand and promptly threw it at Tsunade, who caught it with practiced ease.

She opened and read it. "Hah. As if I'm gonna be convinced by this bluff," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "You can tell the old man that he can't intimidate me like this-"

"So that's a no, then?" Vita asked, speaking for the first time since they'd landed.

"Of course it's a no, brat," Tsunade said, rolling her eyes. "Your apprentice's kinda du-"

Tsunade was forced to stop herself and actually jump back when what appeared to be a mallet appeared in the girl's hand and, in a move so swift it might as well have been instant, it was swung with such speed and force as to almost caught Tsunade off guard. "What the hel-"

"We're not giving you a choice. You're returning to Konoha with us, whether you like it or not," Vita said, taking a step back and swinging Graf Eisen around a couple of times. In a flash, her casual clothes were gone, and she was wearing her barrier jacket. Signum wasn't far behind. "Now we can do this the easy and peaceful way, or I can break both your legs and carry you all the way there."

"Your medical expertise is needed. You might be the only one who can save our mistress. For this reason, we cannot allow you to just walk away," Signum said, shaking her head.

"Tche, you've got some serious mental issues, if you think for a second that two nobodies can intimidate me," Tsunade said, "come on, then, I will show you why people still shit themselves when they see me on the warpath," she said, taking a rather loose stance, closer to that of a brawler than a supposedly experienced and legendary fighter.

Vita noticed that Tsunade was about to attack and quickly leaped into the sky, avoiding her fist, only to see Tsunade drive it through the paved street and punch a crater into it. That was some serious strength, if she could do it with her bare hands. But of course, the Knight of the Iron Hammer was hardly deterred by such a display, and as soon as Tsunade was open, she flew back into striking distance, swinging Graf Eisen.

Despite the fact that the woman was clearly unused to fighting someone at her level of speed, Tsunade was good enough to avoid Graf Eisen a second time. Pressing the attack, Vita swung again, ignoring Tsunade's fist as it crashed into her side. The hammer struck Tsunade in the side of the head, which sent her flying.

Unfortunately, it also sent Vita flying from the impact, and while Tsunade had a grip on the ground to steady herself and not go too far, Vita had been in mid air, which meant she had no such thing, so she went quite a bit high up and away from the impact.

Signum took advantage of the moment and, deciding that it was best to reduce the number of enemies, she struck against Shizune, using Laevateinn's flat side to strike at the young woman. She seemed to twist in anticipation, but was unable to completely avoid the attack, owing to the pig she had been holding merely a moment ago. Shizune seemed to draw something from within the folds of her kimono, but Signum was not going to waste the initiative, and such, she once more used Laevateinn's flat side to strike at her, this time hitting the wrist of the hand that had gone to retrieve whatever item it was, possibly breaking the wrist.

A single movement had Laevateinn's tip resting against the hollow of her throat. While Shizune would only take a glancing cut due to the way Signum was holding the blade, it'd still be a wounded throat. Suffice to say, it wasn't a wound she wanted to have, and it was still life threatening to anyone who's not a medic nin of her skill level or above.

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune shouted, though she didn't dare move lest the sword user holding her at sword point consider it a threatening move.

"What the hell, Shizune, I leave you alone for two seconds, and you get captured," Tsunade said, gritting her teeth. "Once I'm done tearing these two a pair of new assholes, I'll step up your combat training. You're clearly not as good as I thought you were," she said.

"You're not as good as you think you are, either!" Vita's voice came from above, as she swung Graf Eisen down so fast and hard that it forced Tsunade to block instead of dodge, putting both her arms forward to catch the suddenly massive hammerhead. She grunted in effort, however, she wasn't ready for the four metallic spheres that seemed to have come out of nowhere, and so they smashed into her unprotected back.

Vita grinned as Tsunade lost her grip, and Graf Eisen continued on the way down, smashing her against the paved street and burying her body in it.

She removed the hammer, to find that Tsunade had barely managed to put both her arms up to block the hammerhead itself from hitting her. She didn't seem to have taken that much damage.

"Not so hot now, are you!?" Vita yelled. "You'll be coming with us, whether you like it or not!"

Tsunade growled. "There's no way I'm going back to that cursed village!"

"I don't think you understand. My mistress is currently lying on a bed, we're not sure if she will ever wake up again, and the only person who may have the ability to fix her is you. I don't care about your business with Konoha, nor does the Hokage. You are being ordered to return solely for this one job, and you're then free to go once more," Signum explained, voice calm and level.

"Pft. Does he think I'm his errand dog or something? No, if I cave now, then he'll start calling me every time he has a back ache. I'm sure that noble girl can find someone else to heal her," Tsunade shouted, picking herself up from the floor. "I barely even felt that, little girl. So you better have something better in store if you want to force me to do anything."

Vita's eyes narrowed. "I'm just getting started, you old hag," she said, pointing the now normal-sized Graf Eisen at Tsunade. She took a few cartridges from one of her pockets and put them into the hammer's slot, slowly, deliberately taking care. Showing how little of a threat she thought Tsunade was. A classic insult.

"Well, well, well. I don't know whether you've got massive balls, or you're the dumbest pair of Hunter Nin I've seen," Tsunade said. "But if you want to get your faces caved in that badly, I will gladly oblige," she added. "You've managed to get me to be serious. Leave Shizune out of this, and let's make this a bet."

"A bet, hm?" Signum asked, lowering Laevateinn. "If we win, you will come with us. If you lose, we will allow you to go."

Tsunade laughed. "There's no way I can lose against you two!" she said, this time taking a much more... correct, for lack of a better term, stance. Instead of looking like a drunken brawler who couldn't even do unpredictability right, now she looked like a brawler who'd spent decades honing his style into something unique and deadly.

"You will not win," Signum said.

"For her sake, we can't lose!" Vita yelled.

"Besides, while I'm not sure if she could take you two, I'm perfectly confident she can't take all of us," a new voice said.

However, there was nobody it could come from, causing Vita and Signum to blink and look for the source of the voice, readying themselves.

"Urgh, it had to be him of all people," Tsunade said, nearly growling out her words.

"Answering the desires of maidens everywhere, the gallant sage arrives! I am Jiraiya of Mount Myoboku!"

There was a rush of smoke and leaves, and Jiraiya, a fairly tall man with spiky white hair and a frankly ridiculous get up, appeared in front of Tsunade, who growled. "What are you doing here, Jiraiya? Are you sure you want to enforce the old monkey's command? We're already on poor terms as is. Didn't think you wanted to put the final nail in your coffin."

Jiraiya shook his head. "My goddaughter is in critical condition and you're the only one who can help her, Tsunade."

"So what? So many people could use my help. What makes her so special?" Tsunade asked.

"You know who she is, Tsunade. But it doesn't matter who she is. What matters is that an innocent little girl is dying in a horribly painful way, and you have the power to prevent it," Jiraiya explained.

"What do I care? It's just another corpse Konoha has trampled on..." Tsunade said, bitterly.

"That's it, I can't take it anymore!" Vita roared, snapping into motion, swinging Graf Eisen as she flew at Tsunade.

* * *

Konoha was... an interesting place, Nanoha summarized.

It was quite an odd feeling to think that there was nobody who thought that her and Fate walking around was nothing out of the ordinary. In Japan, at this time of the day, she'd have truancy officers chasing her for skipping school. Uminari took education very, VERY seriously. That, and just about everyone knew who the darling youngest daughter of the couple that owned the Midori-ya was. Mostly because it was very, very popular in the area.

There were also lots of fun sights to see. While they were, officially, looking for the Wolkenritter or their master, it was clear that the best way to find them would be to just walk around the city.

And if it just so happened to be that her patrol was with Fate, and they happened to take the more interesting, scenic route, well... that was just good business, some would say. There were quite a few things to see in Konoha, though Nanoha pouted when told that one of the biggest sights the city had to see was the Hokage Monument. Mostly because the once massive monument was now nothing but a great pile of rubble.

There was also the fact that, well, there were quite a few other obvious signs of the war that had taken place. Most of the more... horrifying parts of it had already been cleared out, but there were a few sections of the village that were blocked off, where there only seemed to be those people with headbands, ninja they called themselves.

If she were to be quite honest, Nanoha would admit that these ninja offended her own sensibilities a little. While nowhere near as bad as the idea that all ninja wore stage hand costumes, the fact that all of the ninja here were clearly marked and made themselves highly visible... plus, there was the fact that they had to use magic in a weird way to achieve what they did.

No, for someone descended from an actual ninja clan, who used nothing but their own bodies and skill, Nanoha could accurately say that the people around her were just using the name for its coolness factor.

Bizzarre though it was, given the fact that these people had never interacted with earth, and yet had developed a culture very similar in certain respects to Japan's.

But if the Master of the book was hidden here, it was most definitely as a ninja. Mostly because hiding magic that way would be loads easier, if everyone already did it.

"What do you think, Fate-chan?"

Fate shook her head. "While it's easy to hide a needle in a haystack, it might be even easier if the needle isn't in the haystack in the first place, and is hidden somewhere else," she remarked.

Nanoha tilted her head. "What do you mean? Unless the Master isn't a mage at all, which would be... odd."

It would kind of be. The master of the Book of Darkness was almost always a powerful mage. Even if they weren't before the book, having access to it already provided access to a variety of spells, and it could be utilized as an intelligent device even before it was fully activated. Even to those who weren't combat inclined, it served as a massive empowering tool.

But Fate had a point. If the Master wanted to hide... why not avoid being in the public eye at all? Admittedly, that'd make the task of finding him or her a whole lot harder, but... That didn't mean Nanoha would give up. After all, she was hardly one to give up just because the climb up suddenly became a lot steeper. No, Nanoha was the kind to relish the challenges which others would find excessive.

"It's a possibility," Fate concluded, shrugging.

"Well... Then we should better search more thoroughly, then," Nanoha said, nodding her head.

"Naruto! What are you doing here? I thought you were in the hospital!"

* * *

Sakura wasn't having a good week.

It started horribly, with a War during the Third Round of the Chunin Exams. It didn't help that she'd lost her fight with Neji pretty badly (though admittedly she disabled him for the next fight, which meant Sasuke could get past him... which actually might make things even worse, in retrospect) and that her promotion was, despite the fact that she'd been told by one of the jounin present it wasn't, still in limbo.

Sakura hadn't been promoted due to actions during the Chunin Exams, no, she had been promoted after taking command of a group of genin to lead some Civilians to safety. But given that the Hokage had been incredibly busy, she didn't blame anyone over the fact that her promotion hadn't been through him yet. The old man liked to analyze every single promotion, which was what had Sakura feeling smug for a while, knowing that she'd eventually get to hear praise for her actions from The Professor himself.

Hopefully, anyway.

Even worse than the war and her promotion being shot to hell, though, was something else she learned. Now, Sakura couldn't claim to be Naruto's best friend or most ardent admirer. Far from her, actually, as she was quite envious and jealous of the girl, and at the same time, pitied her. After all, Sakura imagined that it'd be quite horrible to want nothing more than to be a ninja, only to have a weak and fragile body that couldn't keep up, coupled with an inability to use chakra.

At one point, Sakura had wanted nothing more than to strangle the civilian, but... she supposed that her feelings on the girl calmed after Sasuke turned out to be not so great a catch. Ultimately, though, that wasn't what was important.

What was important was that one of Sakura's teachers and someone who she considered very important to herself was utterly and absolutely devastated by the fact that Naruto had been in a hospital, in a damned coma, for the past week, for injuries she received during the war. It was that which soured Sakura's mood the worst. While Sakura was, at best, friendly and at worst neutral to her, to Shamal Naruto was the light of her life, which meant that the usually attentive medic that Sakura had taken to be a role model for her had been upset.

And 'upset' was an understatement like few others.

She was just done with part of the reconstruction efforts that were going on about the village, which went much faster with her strength, agility and mobility as a Shinobi, when she saw something quite unexpected.

She thought she might've just seen something that wasn't there, a simple mirage, the first time she saw it, but... there it was again. Twintails of blonde hair... the clothes were a bit weird, Naruto rarely wore such... subdued clothing, but Sakura supposed that in the wake of a tragedy with so many dead, even the perpetually cheerful blonde would show a little respect for the fallen.

Sakura smiled nonetheless, knowing that now that Naruto was out of the hospital, everything would improve there. Shamal would get out of her funk and get back to work, and they'd start getting the wounded out at the blistering pace she usually worked.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, though the girl didn't turn around. Sakura sighed, with the constant sounds of the reconstruction everywhere, it wasn't that unlikely that Naruto might be wearing earplugs. So instead, she approached her. She was walking with a brown haired girl, also wearing twin tails, though hers were much shorter. "Hey! Naruto! What are you doing here? I thought you were in the hospital!" Sakura remarked.

And then the girl turned around and everything was all wrong.

She didn't turn around and grin or smile when greeting her. She just looked kinda confused. More importantly, though, was the fact that her eyes were red. Naruto's eyes were a very bright shade of blue, unmistakable, and as such, it was obvious that despite the physical resemblance, this girl was not Naruto.

"Uhm... do we know you?" the blonde asked.

"Ah... no, I'm sorry. I just saw you from behind, and I thought you were someone else," Sakura explained, her face flushing. "You happen to look nearly identical to one of my friends," she said, apologetically.

The blonde winced, but the brown haired girl giggled. "Well this is awkward," she said once she'd stopped laughing.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad," Sakura agreed. "Hey, I haven't seen you two around before... and I'd know if there was someone who looked just like Naruto running around," Sakura noted, frowning a little.

"Ah, yes, we are... tourists," the brown haired one said, though her pause could've been attributed to the awkwardness of the situation.

"The village is in a bit of a fix, right now, what with the invasion, but... I guess I can apologize to you two for disturbing your date by taking you two out to see some of the sights on this village that still remain in place! Oh, but I should introduce myself first, I'm Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you!"

"My name's Takamachi Nanoha," the one with brown hair said, smiling and nodding. "And that sounds good!"

The blonde nodded. "My name is Fa-... Testarossa Fate," she corrected herself.

Sakura expertly kept herself from twitching. A fake name, maybe? It certainly wasn't like any other she'd ever hear. It sounded faked, at the very least. The fact that she seemed to have stumbled when saying it only added credence. Maybe she was a criminal? But she couldn't be more than a genin, at best, not if she was even younger than Sakura herself... Unless she was one of those super genii that were sometimes spoken about in hushed whispers.

Oh, well, she'd deal with that as it came. She didn't plan on taking them to see any place with sensitive info, anyway!

"Well, I'm sure you two are hungry, huh?" Sakura said, noting it was nearly lunch hour. "I know a few good places to eat that were untouched, what do you say? My treat," Sakura said, smiling widely.

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and potential spies so close you can smell what they ate last week. Anko's words.

* * *

Roughly an hour later, Nanoha and Fate were concluded with the time they'd allotted to their patrol, and as such, had to say goodbye to their newly made friend. They'd had quite a bit of fun, and gotten a feel for the village, enough that they wouldn't get lost just wandering about, which had been a real risk before. They returned to the hotel they were staying in, and were met with Chrono and Arf on the room that Chrono had insisted on having all to himself.

Though why Arf and Fate insisted on Chrono having his own room at times escaped Nanoha, Arf kept saying stuff about him needing time for himself, now that he couldn't visit Amy or something. Fate just turned red when those talks began and was totally useless as a source of information. When asked to explain or elaborate, Arf would just laugh and pat Nanoha's head, telling her she'd get it, eventually, when she was older.

That made Nanoha wonder how old she'd need to be. She was, after all, older than the familiar, who apparently knew... And Fate seemed to know what they were talking about, too...

Nonetheless, they gave Chrono their debriefing and gave him a basic overview of the village layout, as well as its state after the invasion it'd just withstood.

"Has Admiral Lindy called?" Nanoha asked, chirped really, as she snacked on some of the pastries that they'd bought while touring the village with Sakura.

Not as good as the ones made back at home, but not bad at all. Then again, Nanoha's mother had been baking in a more modern society with better tools and ingredients. And it wasn't a week after a surprise invasion back at home, either.

Absent mindedly, Nanoha shoved a chocolate covered one in Fate's mouth when she opened her mouth to say something. The blonde seemed to be refusing to eat the sweets during the mission for some reason. Nanoha argued that it was actually detrimental, she was acting so stiff and serious that it was obvious she was doing something important. A vital part of fitting in was to act like nothing was out of the ordinary, and Nanoha excelled at acting like nothing was wrong, even if it was. Actually, she passed off as normal better when something was wrong.

"Not yet," Chrono said. "But it's just a matter of time until we find them. I just hope we find them soon enough," Chrono said, shaking his head. "It doesn't appear as if the book has started going on a rampage yet, but..."

Fate nodded. "I know. But we'll stop it... I promise."

"For the moment, we should rest and be relaxed, we're waiting for them to show themse-"

Lindy contacted Chrono. "The Wolkenritter has been detected, four hundred kilometers east of your location. We've detected two, but don't drop your guard. Transmitting coordinates. Be careful."

Chrono nodded. "Nanoha, Fate, we move!"

"That was quick," Nanoha stated. "Are we flying there?"

"Yes. They might detect the dimensional transfer and retreat before we can capture them," Chrono stated.

The hotel room in Konoha had a window to the outside, and they quickly slipped through it. The warding barrier cast earlier by the Barrier Task Force prevented the citizens of Konoha from noticing them until they were already above the clouds. The coordinates finished downloading and they set off.

* * *

The area of town where Tsunade and Vita had their all out brawl was... quickly deserted. And with good reason. Vita and Tsunade had used each other as battering rams and wrecking balls to destroy the area, though they hadn't managed to do more than cosmetic damage, it had less to do with weakness and more to do with not wanting to have to pay for the property damage.

"You... you heartless bitch! I won't allow you to just walk away!" Vita screamed, glaring at Tsunade, picking herself up from the hole Tsunade had used her to dig. Such insane strength... to break through her barrier with one shot, and to make Vita feel the blow past her barrier jacket even then... "My mistress... you're her only hope..." On her feet now, Vita pointed at her with Graf Eisen. "I can't give up, and I can't lose! You will save her life!"

Tsunade, absent mindedly healing a bleeding cut from her forehead, sneered. "You want me to help her? Fine. Then drop on your knees and beg me! Beg me and I might, just might, consider it!"

At that moment, Signum expected Vita to roar in rage and attempt to kill Tsunade, the insult to her pride being the last Vita could take... which was not what happened.

Not at all.

Vita immediately dropped on her knees, bowing her head. "Please."

"W-What!?"

It seemed Tsunade was just as shocked as Signum.

"Please, help my mistress..." Vita said, her forehead now touching the floor. "You're the only one who can, so please..."

The blond medic took a step back, before turning to the more dignified of her hunters.

Signum, however, immediately dropped to her knees, as well. "I beg of you, please help my mistress."

"J-Jiraiya, what the hell is going on!?" Tsunade asked, turning around to face Jiraiya once more. "Wha-What the fuck!?"

Even Jiraiya was now on his knees. "Hime... You have the power. You have the ability. Don't be like this... I know you're better than this."

"He's right, Tsunade-sama... you're letting your hatred for Konoha make your decisions for you... you would never deny someone of help when you could save them... this isn't you," the mousy looking woman with the pig said, approaching Tsunade.

"FINE, okay, I get it already!" Tsunade said, glaring at everyone around her. "I'll go back to Konoha and heal that kid. But once I'm done, I'm out, and if anyone tries to stop me from leaving, I'm kicking their asses."

"That's my hime, I knew you'd see reason!" Jiraiya said, springing to his feet.

"Then we must hurry. I will contact Shamal. Prepare for dimensional transfer," Signum said.

"Buh-wha?" Tsunade asked, blinking.

"It'd take too long to explain, you will be briefed on the situation later, for now, just go with it," Jiraiya said.

"Fine, but this beter have a good explanation, what are we going to do now?" Tsunade asked.

"We'll be teleported all the way back to Konoha. Sort of like with Minato's Hiraishin, though without the need for seals and a lot more math involved," Jiraiya said.

"You've been briefed?" Signum asked, turning to Jiraiya.

"Just the basics. Now, ETA for the transport?" Jiraiya asked.

"Shamal will need a few minutes to set up the extraction with this many people to take along," Signum stated. "It's better if we stay close together and remain still for a minute."

Jiraiya grinned and was about to say something utterly perverted about being the only man in the group, when he suddenly got a bad feeling. He prepared to give everyone a warning, however...

The world changed color at that moment.

"You're under arrest," a calm, collected voice spoke.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 8: Invasion of the Space Police

* * *

Naruto shuddered visibly, and Shamal put a few more covers on her. "She's burning up..." she muttered, soaking a cloth in water and placing it over her head. Shamal was busier dealing with the magical after effects of Naruto's illness, and couldn't quite focus on her body with her magic.

It didn't make any sense. She shouldn't be trying to 'restore' power that should never have been there to begin with. It'd begun cannibalizing itself shortly after Naruto had fallen unconscious, and since then, Shamal had been too busy countering the effects of her Linker Core trying to explode from the strain and the less than favorable interaction that had with her chakra coils to really heal Naruto's body.

Even if she tried, the damage went beyond her abilities. She could recreate organs, yes, but that'd be a temporary solution. The organs she made were magical constructs, which Naruto's body had proven it could and would reject. And even then, given how quickly those had been taken for magical energy... it'd be a very little amount of time it bought them.

Unfortunately, Naruto's body was at an odd state of balance, right now.

She wouldn't die, since her Linker Core produced barely enough energy for her to survive the ever present drain from the Book of Darkness. Usually, it was strong enough to weather the effects without much problem. However, it seemed that the jarring experience had reconnected her ruined Chakra Coils with her Linker Core, which meant that Naruto's body was now more in tune with its own magic.

Her body didn't know how to heal both at once, and trying to do both meant that it as doing neither, as it was restoring itself just as fast as it was cannibalizing itself to produce magic. Shamal feared that the slightest tipping of this balance could be devastating to Naruto's health, no matter what she did. She couldn't heal Naruto's body well enough, and if she tried healing the Linker Core alone, it would begin trying to feed her chakra coils. Ruined as it was, the system did more harm than good in Naruto's body, and the strain from it trying to reform itself would almost assuredly be too much for Naruto's weakened body.

If Shamal knew how the Chakra Coils worked, she could try to sever them from the Linker Core, which would counter that... but she feared that, againt, the slightest mistake could result in her mistress' death.

They'd have to rely on this legendary medic. This world's people knew how their bodies, with those strange 'Chakra' systems in them, worked better than Shamal did.

The most she could do for the moment was to make Naruto's stay in the hospital be as comfortable as possible, and to prevent the mundane symptoms of her illness from doing even more damage.

Zafira growled. "Something's off..." he said. "But I can't put my finger on what..."

"Things are starting to go downhill, too fast," Shamal noted. "It seems like we're slowly escalating the rate at which our problems increase," she added.

"We will have to work so much harder, then," Zafira said.

* * *

Four people squared off against five. They'd been separated from all the civilians who'd gathered to watch the earlier rampage of one of the legendary three ninja.

"This is one weird group..." Tsunade muttered.

Even Shizune would agree.

They were composed of, from the rightmost to the leftmost, a little girl in a white dress that carried around a very fancy spear, a boy in scary and menacing dark armor carrying a blue staff, a blonde wearing what had to be a bondage suit and carrying a miniature halberd and the only adult of the group, a grown woman wearing tiny shorts, a similarly tiny top strained by her sizable breasts, and most bizarre of all, wolf ears and a tail.

"Okay, so what's going on? I'm wanted in like a dozen countries, but you don't seem to be coming after me," Jiraiya asked. "Who you people?" he asked.

"I am Enforcer Chrono Harlaown of the Time-Space Administration Bureau," the lead and only male of the other group said, floating in the air.

"More aliens?" Jiraiya asked. "Explains the weird fashion sense, anyway..."

"... You can't talk," the grown woman of the opposite group commented.

"Aliens?!" Tsunade yelled. "This is a giant mess. I'm not getting involved in it," she said. "I just agreed to heal a kid, not fixing Konoha's messes."

"We have no quarrel with you," the one named Chrono stated. "We are here to arrest the Wolkenritter and stop a tragedy from happening."

"You... you will not stand in our way," Signum said. "Laevateinn!" Pulling off her necklace, Signum made a slashing motion with her hand, and in a flash of light, she was covered in armor that had become infamous amongst Suna and Oto Shinobi, and wielding a weapon that was quickly reaching the rank of legend.

"Whoa, whoa. These two girls are valuable people and have done nothing that wasn't officially sanctioned by Konoha! They're not criminals!" Jiraiya stated, gesturing towards Signum and Vita, who both stood ready, weapons drawn. "Can't we just talk this over?"

"They won't listen. They don't care what your reasons are," Signum stated, simply.

"The TSAB is more interesting in upholding their laws than doing the right thing... all they'll do is kill Naruto off!" Vita yelled. "We've tangled with them before!"

"No, you don't understand!" one of the girls, the one with brown hair and the white dress, yelled. "We don't want to fight!"

"And yet you come armed! There's a Belkan saying, little girl, don't bring a spear to the Peace Talks!" Vita yelled, pointing Graf Eisen at said girl.

"That's the punchline to a joke," Signum corrected. "But correct nonetheless," she said. "I do not trust the peaceful intentions of an armed party who declared their intent to arrest us and captured us in a barrier."

"You're the notorious mass murderers," Chrono stated, eyes narrow. "I trust you understand caution is warranted."

"... Okay, so they've killed a couple of people. So what?" Jiraiya asked. "I've killed a fair few myself, I mean, there were wars and stuff, and a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do sometimes," he said. "So..."

"We're wasting valuable time!" Vita shouted, rushing forward. "You'll go down first!"

The little girl in white barely got a chance to react, but her device was alert and pulled her out of the way, calling "Flash Move" in Mid Childan as it did. However, that did not deter Vita, and growling, she continued in hot pursuit.

As soon as the Chrono boy jumped in to assist his teammate, Jiraiya intercepted, landing a solid blow to the boy's gut, causing him to double over. "Yeah, I'm not taking it easy and kidding around with you guys. Not if whatever organization you work for considers you strong enough to go off chasing against the knights."

Chrono huffed and took a few steps back.

"Now, seriously, if you're Law Enforcement, I don't want to make this into an interplanetary mess, so-"

"And yet you attacked me," Chrono cut him off.

"Well, to be fair, you were going to attack a member of my village... sort of," Jiraiya said, raising his hands, "but if we could solve this peacefully..."

"Nanoha!" the blonde of the other team yelled, rushing off, clearly having gotten fed up of waiting to see what happens.

Signum snapped into action, seeing as Jiraiya was distracted. "You won't allow me to interfere in the other fights... then I must defeat you, before the Wolkenritter kill Nanoha and Fate," Chrono stated, simply.

"They're not gonna kill those two," Jiraiya said. "They know their Master won't stand for it."

"Fate can handle herself... I've got a bad feeling about this guy," the adult woman said as she flew right next to Chrono.

"Arf! Are you sure?" Chrono asked, frowning slightly.

"I'm pretty sure. Those two have been training a lot recently, I have full trust in them."

"Well hello there, beautiful," Jiraiya said, grinning eagerly. "I'm sure you're a lot more, ahem, open to negotiation than Officer-kun here, right?"

"... Ugh. Maybe this was a bad idea," Arf said, growling. "I'm much more experienced than you in the Strike Arts, Chrono, support me from range."

"Affirmative," Chrono said, flying high into the air.

"Flying is SUCH a cheap trick!" Jiraiya growled, but he didn't have long to dwell on it as he was attacked with surprising speed by the wolf woman, who launched into a barrage of attacks. She was faster than him, he noted, and he could only keep up because he could read her movements well in advance.

She looked to be oddly twenty or so years old. What insane talent she must have, then, if the only thing Jiraiya could count on was a thirty year gulf in experience.

Still, he saw his opportunity and countered, dodging under her blows and leaving her overextended long enough to plant his own fist in her stomach, causing her to back up a bit. "You're very skilled," she said.

"Thanks, I work out a lot," Jiraiya bantered, grinning. "You sure you don't want to settle this with a little horizontal taijutsu?"

"... I don't even know what that is, and I don't want to know either," she replied. "I'll have to go all out."

"Well, if you're going to give me that courtesy, I guess I should do the same."

Arf blinked in obvious shock when Jiraiya blazed through a series of handsigns before biting his thumb and smacking it into his chest. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he said before bursting into smoke.

She leaped back, clearly expecting some sort of technique... and he had used one, in fact. Apparently to transform himself into some sort of human-toad hybrid. He looked like the bad witches in children's tales. "What... is this?"

"It's called Sage Mode. It allows me to tap into the natural energy of the planet. Pretty neat, huh?" Jiraiya asked, grinning at her. "Also makes me a whole lot stronger."

"Jiraiya-chan, what's going on?"

Oh, and Jiraiya also had two toad-like things attached to his shoulders. That talked. He did make for a bizarre image.

"I'll tell you later, Ma, Pa, for now just lend me your strength!"

"Arf!" Chrono yelled.

The dog woman nodded. She used some sort of jutsu that made glowing rings appear around Jiraiya's ankles and wrists, surprising him for a moment.

"Stinger Blade, Execution Shift!" Chrono shouted.

Dozens of blade-like bolts of energy formed in the air, and Jiraiya's eyes widened.

"Gimme fuel gimme fire!" Jiraiya shouted.

"A spell!?" Arf yelled, as Chrono's attack launched once it was ready.

However, the toad like things on Jiraiya's shoulders spat a glob of oil and the other a fireball, lighting the oil on fire. Jiraiya himself seemed to spit some sort of wind wave, which made the huge oil-flame suddenly explode, increasing in intensity and heat as it did.

It blew a gigantic cloud of dust as it settled, and the shockwave broke the bindings on Jiraiya. It had also had the effect of stopping Chrono's attack and sending Arf flying away, the orange shield she'd erected at the last moment taking the brunt of the damage.

"A little help, hime?" Jiraiya asked.

"I told you, I'm not getting involved in this," Tsunade said, sitting down.

"Dammit!" Jiraiya said, as the other two once more seemed to come up with a plan, and prepared to assault Jiraiya once more. "This is what I get for being a nice guy, I guess!"

* * *

"You don't get it, if you fill up the Book of Darkness, something terrible will happen!" the one named Nanoha shouted, though Vita hardly paid any attention.

What sort of lunatic thought they knew more about the Book of Darkness than its very own Guardian Programs? "Tche, I know everything I need to know about the Book of Darkness!" Vita said, launching four iron spheres at Nanoha. Wreathed in magic, they shot towards her as four red streaks.

"And you won't even call it by its proper name?" Nanoha asked, putting up a barrier that creaked a little, but ultimately stopped all four spheres. "Raising Heart!"

"Axel Shooter" the Mid Childan device confirmed.

A dozen spheres of pink light surrounded Nanoha. Vita was a bit too stunned by her words to stop her enemy, but she quickly shook her head and glared at Nanoha once more. "As if you'll be able to control that many!" Vita shouted, rushing forward. "Raketenform!"

Graf Eisen matched her shout, and Vita's speed increased significantly.

"I don't need to!" Nanoha shouted, and merely set them all to begin flying towards Vita.

Conjuring a triangular barrier in front of herself, Vita just barreled through the shots, ignoring the four that the barrier couldn't stop and simply taking the pain of the four attacks hitting her. "I WON'T LET YOU KILL HER!" Vita screamed, swinging Graf Eisen.

"We don't want to kill anyone!" Nanoha yelled in response.

"Round Shield," Raising Heart, her device, intoned.

Graf Eisen crashed against the glowing glyph, which held it at bay. "Go through, Graf Eisen! Shatter that barrier!" Vita commanded.

"Jawohl!" her hammer acknowledged, and Vita pressed the shield with all of her strength. It crashed like so much glass.

"Flash Move," Raising Heart answered, pulling its wielder away from harm. Nanoha quickly ducked into an alley, causing Vita to growl.

Vita clicked her tongue. "All you can do is run, you coward!" she yelled, rushing forward once more and rounding the corner.

"Divine BUSTER!"

Only to be met face to face with a rather large pink beam that barreled into her before she could put up a defense.

"Will you just stop trying to kill me and just listen for a moment!?" Nanoha shouted, taking to the skies above the city and looking down at the rubble where Vita was buried.

However, Vita merely burst from the rubble, growling in anger. Graf Eisen had ignited, and soon Vita was spinning in circles. Nanoha barely had time to put up a barrier, and it didn't last even a second.

Graf Eisen pushed Nanoha's barrier jacket to the limit as it struck her ribs. If Vita had to guess, the barrier had weakened her swing enough that she hadn't just squished the girl's insides, but that would leave a nasty mark nonetheless. "Stay down!" Vita yelled.

Of course, Nanoha didn't. Her Divine Buster, however, was dodged this time. "Can you at least tell me your name? Calling you Chibi-chan would be awfully rude," Nanoha mentioned as she flew up, ready to defend herself at any moment.

"I am Vita, the Knight of the Iron Hammer!" Vita yelled, proudly. The girl might be her enemy, but a worthy opponent is a worthy opponent, and despite everything else, Vita was still a Belkan knight.

"I'm Takamachi Nanoha, and I wish I could say it's nice to meet you," Nanoha countered.

"Graf Eisen!"

The cartridge was loaded and expelled swiftly. Vita felt the power coursing through her, and she once more rushed forward.

* * *

"I cannot allow you to interrupt that fight," Signum said, Laevateinn in her right hand, while her left held the sheath, currently locked with the shaft of her enemy's weapon.

"I see... but I must help Nanoha," the blonde said. "There can be no peaceful solution to this."

"You are right," Signum admitted, breaking their stalemate by letting the hand holding the sheath in place drop, parrying her enemy's attack. She didn't fall into the trap of continuing the attack, however, and instead pulled back just in time to avoid being chopped in half. "You're very fast."

"You're very skilled," her enemy countered.

It didn't take more than a second for both of them to leap to the full extent of their capabilities and begin duking it out in a heated melee exchange. Both were incredibly fast, though the blonde clearly held an edge in speed. Signum had to rely on superior skill and experience, as well as having a parrying weapon in the form of Laevateinn's sheath, to hold the upper hand. They traded attacks, neither budging nor allowing themselves to fall for any false opening.

For a moment, Signum lost herself to the rhythm of blades dancing as she and her opponent drowned out everything around them with the shockwaves resultant from their clashes. However, her reverie was broken when she hit her enemy with her sheath, striking her chest hard enough to send her flying. A single opening, to be exploited, had born fruits. However, as Signum rushed forward to give her opponent the follow up, she had to hastily move out of the way as her opponent performed a somersault that revealed she had changed her weapon's shape to an energy scythe, and had thrown the weapon's blade towards her.

"Impressive," Signum admitted. "You lured me in by taking a hit."

"It didn't work, though," the blonde admitted.

"It almost did," Signum noted, her hand carefully brushing the right side of her barrier jacket, which had been cut through. There was a sizable vertical cut that was still bleeding. "You've impressed me. What is your name?"

"I am Fate Testarossa," the newly named Fate said, readying her glowing scythe.

"Very well. I am Signum of the Wolkenritter. Now, let's continue," Signum said, calmly.

Fate nodded, and immediately threw several more copies of her scythe's energy blade at Signum, who destroyed them with Laevateinn before they hit her, each causing a cloud of smoke. Knowing it was a smokescreen, Signum let her flight spell go for a moment and she fell a little, causing Fate's follow up attack to sail right over her, as several pointy spears of lightning rushed through the spot Signum had just occupied, followed by Fate herself slashing through the smoke.

Signum stabbed at her with Laevateinn, but Fate was very quick, and managed to roll out of the way. The sword scraped her, however, causing a shallow cut just below her belly button, a little wider than an eye.

"You're a worthy opponent," Signum said, rushing at Fate even as the blonde dodged out of the way of another slash. "Schlangenform!"

Fate seemed to almost squeak as she thrust her scythe forward. "Defenser!" the weapon called.

The whip that Laevateinn separated into crashed against a yellow glyph, bouncing off harmlessly.

"Laevateinn!" Signum called, and the weapon consumed and ejected a cartridge. The links of the sword chain became wreathed in blazing fire, and she swung the whip again, this time crashing through the shield completely, though the girl herself escaped with nothing but a singed cape.

It seemed she'd taken the time to prepare a spell, however. "Plasma Smasher!"

Signum's eyes narrowed. "Dammit," she muttered to herself, hearing Laevateinn's confirmation of the return to its normal longsword form, just before a torrent of lightning pierced through the air. She narrowly dodged it, though part of her left arm was caught. The entirety of her Barrier Jacket shuddered, and she gave up the arm as a loss for this fight. It was paralyzed and crippled beyond use. She'd have to ask Shamal to heal her before their master awakened, lest she get worried.

Fate, however, was not giving her down time to muse about how she'd explain her wounds later, as the melee was re engaged.

* * *

Jiraiya huffed. "Okay, I gotta give you guys a lot of credit. You managed to push me to actually be serious, and you almost got me," he said, looking at the two who were even now panting and trying to regain their breath.

"How are you still standing?! What are you even made of?" the wolf woman shouted, as she stood straight for a moment and took a deep breath before dropping back into the same stance she'd been using since the beginning of the fight.

"Heh. I'm made of pure awesome and distilled badass, girly," Jiraiya commented. "I've got just as much stamina in bed, want me to show you?"

"Ugh, I'm glad it's not Fate fighting you," Arf replied.

"Oh, come on, I'm a Super Pervert, not a goddamn pedophile. She ain't got no tits," Jiraiya said, stomping his foot before turning around and grinning cheekily up at Chrono. "And that's just no good, am I right kid?"

"How did you-" Chrono asked, shocked that Jiraiya had noticed.

"Kid, I'm a goddamn ninja," Jiraiya said.

"I don't even know what a ninja is, but I wanna be one now," Arf said.

"Maybe I can teach you after this mess is done and over with?" Jiraiya offered.

"You'll have to do something for your community service to pay off the assault charges," Chrono noted. "Teaching Strike Arts and Ninja Arts would go a long way."

"Glad to see the law enforcement can be reasonable. Pity I can't let you just win here. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, and leaving little girls to die? Well, that's just mean," Jiraiya said.

"The Book of Darkness is dangerous," Chrono said. The bindings he'd prepared were useless, so he dispelled them and instead began to prepare another volley of stinger blades. Arf ought to pick up on his intentions.

"You think I don't know that, kid? I was there when it was used," Jiraiya said. "You can bet I'm glad it's my lovely and kind goddaughter who wound up with it."

"Then why are you preventing us from stopping it!? It will destroy your village, and the rest of this world, if it's completed!"

"We're not trying to complete it," Jiraiya said. "We just want to save Naruto's life."

"W-What?" Chrono asked, stumbling back a bit. "But..."

"Let's just talk for a moment, okay?" Jiraiya said.

"That's right, young'un, listen to Jiraiya-chan, he has good advice," one of the toad-like things on his shoulders commented.

"Shucks, ma, you're gonna make me blush," Jiraiya said.

"If the fight's over, Jiraiya-chan, let's dismiss our fusion. I'm tired already," the male sounding toad noted.

* * *

"There..!"

Nanoha had slipped. Her guard was down for just a second.

Graf Eisen moved swiftly and impacted the base of the head of her staff, separating head from shaft and parting Nanoha from the actual computer that was the jewel seemingly decorating it. Nanoha recoiled, but didn't have time for much else as Vita swung again. Graf Eisen impacted the center of her chest and destroyed her barrier jacket.

Nanoha crashed to the ground, most likely unconscious, while Vita panted like a dog in summer, desperate to get some much needed air into her burning lungs.

With a victorious grin, Vita tried to turn around and leave, only to fall on her knee, mid-turn. It was... an odd position to take in mid-air. "What the..."

It seemed that she'd taken far more damage than she'd thought, as she could hardly remain conscious now that the adrenaline began to fade.

"What a horribly strong little girl," Vita mused. "... I got wounded pretty badly. I'm gonna get punished... Dammit."

* * *

Signum knew her opponent was a worthy match, and that she would grow to be a magnificent fighter, possibly beyond her own level. She had the talent, and her physical attributes were prodigious, to say the least, and that wasn't speaking of her innate power and her ability to control it.

But for the moment, at the very least, Signum was still superior in two areas, skill and experience, that made a decisive difference, allowing Signum to defeat a faster opponent.

It was her experience that allowed Signum to notice that despite its nature as a melee weapon, her enemy's device was not as sturdy as it should be for that role. And it was her skill that allowed Signum to capitalize on that fact, taking a moment of distraction on the blond's part to strike at the comparatively fragile jewely that was the main core of her enemy's device.

An attack with pin point accuracy that would've been impossible to execute well for anyone lesser than her cut through the air and hit the jewel, cracking it.

Both knew, at that very moment, that the fight was pretty much over now that Fate couldn't use her device without risking its integrity permanently.

It wasn't surprising that Signum knocked Fate out with the flat of her blade shortly afterwards. Some would've thought it was surprising for her to let her live, but...

The TSAB was already annoying enough. They didn't need to make themselves enemies of the entire machine by killing off their operatives.

* * *

Meanwhile, over at Konoha hospital, Sarutobi Hiruzen, also known as the Third Hokage, happened to visit his granddaughter in all but name. It was clear the Knights were restless, however, which prompted him to ask what was wrong.

"They haven't returned, and we haven't been able to return them, either," Zafira said, crossing his arms and looking almost ready to bolt.

Shamal nodded. "I've tried to extract them twice. They're probably in trouble. Zafira... you should go," she stated.

"I will assign a Genin Team to assist and protect those two," Sarutobi said. "I've been meaning to find an excuse to promote them as is. If things go too far south, I'll still be around," he added, looking pointedly at Shamal, even as he remained seated in vigil over Naruto's body. "ANBU," he called, and a dark shadow slithered into the room.

"Understood," Zafira said. "I'll be going now."

* * *

"Shit, and I thought getting the Space Police involved made it a huge mess already... Of course HIS kid had to be the one who would get in such a fix," Tsunade said. "But... if things are as you say, then what is your plan to prevent the problem from escalating beyond our ability to control it?"

"Yes. I'm curious, as well," Jiraiya said.

Shizune was silent, but her own curiosity was clear.

Chrono cleared his throat. "There is no way to save everyone. Not that we know of, at least. Once the Book has been tied to a host, the only way to sever the connection is Death. Even the book's destruction would not suffice. It will merely regenerate time and time again, and seek its host once more. I'm afraid that the host... is a lost cause."

"W-What!?" Jiraiya nearly had his eyes bulge out of his skull. "You DO want to kill Naruto, then!" he said, his tone angry.

"No. I don't. If I knew of a way to save her, I'd use it in a heartbeat, but no matter what we do, the host is doomed the moment the link is formed," Chrono said.

"We don't want to use this method, but it's the only one we have available to preven the destruction of this and countless other worlds," Arf added.

"Even so... We don't plan on killing her. She will be sealed, frozen eternally. If we discover a way to save her, unsealing her would be a matter of time and resources. It would be achievable. We will prevent the destruction of this world, and eventually save her, as well," Chrono said. "I won't let the Book of Darkness end any more lives... I swear it!"

Jiraiya whistled. "You got a chip on your shoulder there, kiddo," Jiraiya said. "But... I respect you. I can detect no hatred on you. It's all determination and resolve. I don't think I could be as clear headed in your case," Jiraiya admitted.

"I've had a lot of time to come to terms with it," Chrono admitted, "and great people to help me through my grief and anger. I can't hate the Book's master for something outside of their control, and the book itself is an automaton, it performs the task it was programmed for and nothing else," Chrono added.

"Wish I had a head as level as yours when I was fourteen. Maybe then I wouldn't have wound up chasing after a flatboard who didn't give me the time of the day," Jiraiya said.

"Clocks didn't even exist back then, and you only started chasing me after I developed, you jerk," Tsunade countered, a mild blush coloring her cheeks, clear anger in her face. It might've been the remaining alcohol in her system, though. "Anyway, you've only considered your methods, kid. We've got our own brand of problem solving around here."

"That is true. However, I've been studying how to resolve this as bloodlessly as possible for years, and I've found nothing. If you have insight to offer, I won't deny you, but don't think that I haven't exhausted as many avenues of research as I can," Chrono said.

"We've got sealing arts of our own, and this dumbass here's a mast-"

"CHRONO, EMERGENCY, EVACUATE RIGHT NOW!" Amy's voice blared through Chrono's mind, panic more than clear.

Chrono grabbed his head, trying to stem the pain from the headache that was induced by Amy's scream. "Uhm, Space Police-kun, are you okay?" Shizune asked. She knew Tsunade being drunk would be in no state to treat a headache, but at least she could do something to help.

"Something terrible has happened, or is about to happen, we have to leave RIGHT NOW," Chrono stated. "Arf, prepare extraction -"

A thunderclap burst both of his eardrums, a flash blinded him and an incredibly powerful shockwave threw him across the street and blasted him against concrete, all before he could finish that sentence. The barrier crashed and the world returned to normal.

Standing atop a tall rooftop, Zafira snapped the Book of Darkness shut. Sacrificing the pages he'd utilized was a shame, but he saw no way to break the barrier without internal aid.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 9: Victory..?

* * *

"Holy crap, what WAS that!?"

Shizune's voice was the first thing to register.

"That... was the Book of Darkness' power. That's the power that Naruto used to obliterate the Ichibi and its host," Jiraiya said, a grimace on his face. "Oi, Tsunade, I still can't quite hear from my left ear. Did you do that on purpose?" he asked, frowning.

Tsunade snorted. "Can't heal it if you're just so old," she said, shrugging.

"Oi, Shizune, fix your teacher's laziness," Jiraiya commanded.

Shizune squeaked and went to do exactly that. It didn't take her long to finish healing Jiraiya's left ear, since Tsunade had already done most of the work anyway.

"Should we heal this boy?" Shizune asked, frowning. "I... don't think they're bad people, even if, well, you know," she said, gesturing with her hands towards the unconscious boy lying not too far from them.

"Actually, yeah. A gesture of good will. If shit goes all the way and hits the fan, at least we'll be 'those guys who healed their agent' and not 'those guys who left him deaf'," Jiraiya noted. "Not even you can disagree with that, right Tsunade?"

Shrugging, she shook her head. "Whatever. I'll do it," she said, shrugging. "Clean him up, Shizune."

Shizune pulled out a piece of cotton from the medical pouch she carried in a seal, for emergencies, and cleaned out the blood that had leaked out the boy's ears. Tsunade promptly sat down and put a green glowing hand on each of his ears. Within a minute, she let go. "... This is a goddamn civilian," she muttered as she stood up. "Zero chakra. Can you even believe it?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes. You know those two girls who were on the verge of having you pull out your seal?" Jiraiya asked. "Not a drop of chakra, either," he explained. "Aliens, remember?"

"Shit, I almost forgot," Tsunade admitted. "What a bizzarre situation you've dragged me into."

The boy moaned and stirred, waking up much like a trained shinobi, in a snap. "What is going on..?" he asked, clearly confused.

"We were talking, then this purple lightning bolt came out of nowhere and, well, I'm sure you can guess the rest," Jiraiya said, frowning. "Blew out our ears."

"Who would've guessed? Thunderclaps are loud at this range," Tsunade said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I just got done healing you."

"If it was that powerful, then..." Chrono muttered.

"Yeah, it's likely those two girls who you came with are similarly beat up-"

"Not quite. They were a bit... more affected, as both were unconscious at the time," a new voice said, interrupting them. Signum, with the blonde slung over her shoulder, stood on a pile of rubble, while Vita was flying a couple of feet back, bringing in the other girl.

"FATE! NANOHA!" Arf shouted, growling at the two knights.

"Easy there," Jiraiya said, gesturing towards Arf. "You don't make threatening gestures when someone holds a hostage," he added. "And this is not how you normally behave. What's going on?"

Signum unloaded her cargo and looked at Arf. "This must be your master, correct?" she asked, hoisting Fate up with her free hand.

"Yes," Arf said. "And you better let her go or-"

"Here," Signum said, tossing Fate towards Arf. "I have no interest in holding a hostage, nor do I intend to kill her now. I have not taken her Linker Core, either."

"Same here," Vita said, though she was apparently taking a little more care with her cargo, it was obviously more because of the awkwardness of carrying someone who was actually bigger than her. "Now, let's get going. We're wasting time."

"I can't let you go this easily," Chrono said, his hand clenching on the staff he was holding.

"If we fight now, you will lose and lose badly," Jiraiya said.

"They're exhausted," Chrono noted. "And you won't fight," he added.

"That may be true. But you're quite tired yourself, and that man over there is entirely fresh," Jiraiya warned.

Chrono blinked, and saw that on one of the rooftops was the Guardian Beast of the Book of Darkness, looking down on the proceedings. The situation was not looking favorable.

"Oi!" she shouted, catching Chrono's attention, "catch!" she added, flinging Nanoha in his direction.

"Vita was right, we have no time for this. You have lost. Now let us go."

Tsunade snorted. "We'll go as soon as I've repaired those girls' ears. Everything else is superficial, but if I don't fix their ears now, they might be deaf the rest of their lives," she said.

"Oh, so NOW you're helping people out of the goodness of your heart," Vita growled, clearly annoyed.

"They're here. I don't have to go to that accursed village to heal them," Tsunade replied, snappily. "Shizune, you know what to do..."

And indeed, the woman's assistant did. She apparently went ahead and cleaned up all the bleeding wounds the two girls had and patched up the scrapes so they didn't bleed anymore. Shortly after, Tsunade took over and performed two short surgeries on them, healing their ears. "Well, that should do it. Now, let's get this over with so I can get out of Konoha as quickly as possible."

"I'll stay here and make sure they don't follow you," Jiraiya said. "That, and I've got some words to trade with these people..."

Signum nodded. Vita and Zafira seemed to be somewhat leery, but nevertheless, they nodded as well.

"Do not come looking for us. Leave us be," Signum said, glaring at Chrono. "Our mistress is innocent, and we won't allow you to reach her."

"Give up and go do something more productive," Vita sneered.

* * *

"Everyone..!"

Shamal seemed quite harried and upset as the rest of the Wolkenritter re-entered the room that had been home to Naruto for over a week.

"What happened?" Signum asked.

"Naruto's been steadily getting worse," Shamal replied. "I've been doing all I can, but I can't fix the underlying issues, just delay the inevitable, so-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here already."

Shamal was... somewhat shocked. "This must be Tsunade-dono, right?" she asked. "You are the most legendary medic in this world. You are our last hope."

"I got that already," Tsunade said. "I'm the best there's ever been, I know already. Call Sarutobi, since Jiraiya is not here. Tell me everything I need to know about the kid's health state," she said, gesturing towards the bed that held the source of their sorrow. Zafira nodded and decided that, as the one in the best physical state, it should be him who went to get the Hokage.

"I will explain as best as I can," Shamal began, frowning as she turned to look at Naruto. She went on a detailed, as detailed as she could manage in fact, explanation of Naruto's current health state, taking a few moments to explain the pseudo-organ known as the Linker Core, the particularities Tsunade needed to know, and what impact it had on Naruto's illness.

Nearly half an hour of two medics trading knowledge of biology both alien and domestic, for both sides, went by, and most of the others had long since lost the trail of conversation.

"So, let me get this straight... this kid used to be a Jinchuuriki, but then she had her tailed beast extracted, somehow, without killing her," Tsunade said.

Shamal nodded. "The first thing the book did was drain her of all foreign Linker Cores. It appears that the Kyuubi no Kitsune was close enough that the book could adapt."

Shaking her head, Tsunade released a sigh. "Well, now I can understand why her chakra coils have been ripped to shreds," she mentioned.

"Yes, that is why she can't be a ninja," Shamal noted.

"The Chakra Coils she has are more detrimental than they are good. And... they're killing her," Tsunade noted. "I see, then. It appears that whatever the hell she did during the invasion must have made the book attempt to fix the damage it had done already, but it has no idea what the chakra coils are, or how they work. It seems to have thought it was a circulating system for the magic of the Linker Core."

Shamal nodded. "This matches with my hypothesis. Her body has been incorrectly healed because of a misunderstanding, and it's killing her," she said, clenching her fist. "Not only did we ruin her dreams, now we are killing her, too..?" she muttered, before she took a deep breath and forced a determined expression onto her face. "I refuse to let it end like this. There has to be some way to fix this. If we can sever the connection to her Linker Core, then maybe-"

"That'd still kill her. She's barely keeping herself alive as is. If you performed such an operation, it's likely the shock would kill her," Tsunade said. "No, the only chance we have is to complete whatever it was that the book was trying to do."

"But... that is insane. I've never seen anything anywhere near close to this," Shamal protested.

"Neither have I. It's not going to stop me, though," Tsunade said, stretching a little. "Now get ready, I'm going to teach you in the sixteen hours of surgery how to reconstruct a human's chakra coils, and at the same time, you're going to teach me how a Linker Core works. If we're lucky, we might just learn how to adapt the Chakra Coils to be able to circulate magic, as well."

"But if we do that, her body-" Shamal began.

"That's what we've got Shizune for. She's the best surgery assistant you've ever seen. She'll be able to keep Naruto's body from failing on us, while we work."

Shamal nodded. "What... what are our chances of success?"

"Minimal," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "But the only other option..."

"Is unacceptable," Shamal said, nodding. "Then, shall we?"

"I'll get someone to prepare a surgery theater. Go wash yourself, and send someone to fetch Shizune. We'll start as soon as the old goat gets here. I want to double check some stuff about the seal on her stomach, make sure it's harmless to remove. It's not going to help surgery, I can tell you that much."

* * *

Chrono clenched his fist.

"They escaped..." he said. "They seemed to have betrayed their allies. The attack hit them just as hard as it hit us. If they hadn't been medics..."

Amy nodded. "You'd probably be deaf forever. That attack sure was something," she noted. "Still, their medicinal abilities are impressive, for such a primitive planet."

"No, the medic who healed me is. If what Jiraiya told me is true, we were healed by the single best medic in their world and her apprentice. They're certainly well above most if not all doctors I've visited before, but I doubt the world lives up to that standard," Chrono noted, shaking his head. "Still, it seems that while the attack hit them unexpectedly, they still returned to the village all the same. Sneaking in now will be more difficult now that they know what we actually look like."

"But your conversation with this Jiraiya person... he is clearly open to us, and he understands," Lindy interrupted. "The Knights won't listen to us, and they probably don't care either way-"

"They're supposed to be unfeeling automatons. But we know that they're at least capable of anger," Chrono said. "Nanoha, Fate, you fought them... what are your impressions?"

"They're definitely not unfeeling," Fate said, instantly.

"I agree. Vita-chan... I could feel her love for her mistress, and her fear and worry. And, well, she was also very angry," Nanoha mentioned, frowning a little. "My father used to say, when training by siblings, that by fighting all out, we can understand each other's feelings and... I feel I understand her a bit, now. She's deathly afraid of something. She was really, really desperate when we fought. What about you, Fate-chan?"

"Signum wasn't any different. She seemed to be outwardly controlled, calm and even cold. She certainly looked unfeeling, but... I could see it just as clearly. She respected me. But... beyond that, below that outer layer, I could feel it too. She was afraid and desperate. I could tell by the way she got more and more aggressive as she was worn down, and the fight dragged on."

Chrono nodded. "Given the devotion to their master that they showed... I believe that's the source of their worry and desperation. Jiraiya confirmed that their mistress, Naruto is dying from some malady, possibly related to the book itself. They were seeking out the world renowned medic who healed us to see if she could help," Chrono explained.

"Yes, that matches up. Vita-chan kept rambling about us trying to kill someone... So that's why they won't talk to us. They fear we're out to kill their master," Nanoha muttered.

"In a way, they are right. There is no saving the Master of the Book... not yet, at any rate," Chrono noted.

Lindy nodded. "Yuuno will find a way. I'm sure of it. However, now we know for certain where they are. From now on, we'll start a hunting operation."

"um... We lost our devices," Nanoha stated. "Raising Heart took more damage than I thought."

"Bardiche, as well," Fate added. "They knew that our devices were more fragile than theirs, and used that to their advantage. That's how they defeated us."

"I've been meaning to talk to you two. Both of your devices are rather old, and due for an update since a long time ago," Lindy explained. "Even storage devices, such as S2U, have to receive regular updates to not become obsolete."

Chrono nodded, confirming her words.

"Up until recently, I'd thought they were good as they were, and... they really are," Nanoha said. "But..."

"A stronger frame wouldn't hurt. Especially for me," she mentioned. She remembered the ease with which Laevateinn dented and cracked Bardiche, and how much energy had been wasted in that fight powering the self repair system so that Fate could still use her weapon.

"Leave it to us, then. We'll make sure that Raising Heart and Bardiche are back and stronger than ever in no time," Lindy promised, smiling at them both. "You'll have to stay here, though, it could be dangerous to be alone without devices..."

Nanoha shook her head. "No, we won't be alone. We'll take Arf with us," she said. "And... if we don't have devices, then they won't attack us."

Lindy blinked. "Are you certain?"

"Yes. Signum considered me a worthy opponent..." Fate said, shaking her head. "It'd be an insult to attack me while I can't defend myself."

"They are Belkan Knights, after all. They could've killed us, but let us go," Chrono said. "... I don't think that they'd be in danger if they performed Recon. And unlike me, they have managed to find a friend to guide them around the village."

"Very well... you're all dismissed, for the time being. Nanoha, Fate, you two should return to your hotel room in Konoha. We can insert you discretely. Remember... be careful."

The two nodded.

* * *

"Is what we're doing the right thing, Fate-chan?"

Nanoha was sitting on the upper bed on the room that she and Fate shared. She'd already changed into her bedclothes, and Fate blushed slightly at her near naked roommate. Fate herself was a lot more overly conscious, and had actually changed in the bathroom into a floor length gown. By contrast, Nanoha's sleepwear was a simple long shirt, which had probably once belonged to one of her siblings. Likely her brother, given that it looked like it was a man's shirt. Nanoha claimed that she'd forgotten to pack her sleepwear in her excitement, but she'd had it in the Asura... "I... don't know," she admitted. "And I don't think there is a right thing to do."

"Yeah... you're right," Nanoha replied, nodding at her. "If we don't do anything, then the Book will kill everyone in this world and then move on to another one... but if we do, then we'll be condemning someone to be sealed forever... someone who might not have done anything... I can't do that to an innocent."

Fate climbed up so she could sit next to Nanoha, placing her full weight on her arms as she leaned back and looked at the ceiling once she did. "I know... I want to help save this person, like you saved me..."

"The knights... they love her a great deal. I could feel it..." Nanoha explained. "The kind of person who would inspire such love and devotion... it can't be an evil person."

Fate nodded. "But what can we do?"

At this, Nanoha frowned. "I don't know, Fate-chan, I don't know... But Yuuno-kun might have figured something out!" Nanoha said, smiling. "Yeah! Yuuno-kun is the best researcher, I'm sure he's figured something out at the Infinite Library!"

"Yes. I'm sure he has. And if he hasn't..." Fate said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, "then we'll think of something ourselves."

"That's the spirit, Fate-chan!" Nanoha said, pumping her fist in the air. "We'll save the Master of the Book, no matter what!"

Fate smiled and nodded. "Then... tomorrow, we'll go out into the village! We'll find the Master, and convince her to make them stop and talk..."

"Ne, Fate-chan," Nanoha began, looking completely serious. "Do you think that the Naruto who Sakura-chan confused you with might be the same Naruto..?"

"I don't know how common the name may be... but Signum didn't have any special reactions to my appearance... It might be," she admitted.

"We should ask her to introduce us all the same, don't you think?" Nanoha asked.

Fate nodded. "If nothing else, it'll give us an excuse to check."

* * *

Chrono sighed as he drank the orange juice he'd poured for himself. "Amy, I would be appreciative if you would stop doing this," he said as soon as he noticed the glass he was trying to drink from had been switched, and he was now drinking water.

"It's just too funny, you never pay attention," Amy said, sitting on the couch that dominated one of the walls of Chrono's quarters. "But anyway... you know why I'm here. I was observing that battle, and I heard everything you and that Jiraiya person were talking about."

"I know," Chrono said. "I kept the communications channel open on purpose. That man is very important in the leadership of his village. He's the kind of in we need to solve this as peacefully as possible."

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the last few words you guys exchanged. I was... too concentrated on your chat, that's why I couldn't detect the Wolkenritter's escape plan earlier. But, what he said... they have their own sealing arts. They might know things that we don't. The way they use their natural magic, it's at times bizarre to us, and that's accounting for all the rare talents, skills and abilities that the TSAB has documented. There was nothing in the ship's databanks about an ability that allows for one to draw in the natural energy of the world," Amy explained. "They might hold the answer."

"It's possible," Chrono admitted. "I'm a bit leery of trusting an undeveloped and primitive magical culture, but it wouldn't be the first time we discover magic being used in ways we never would have thought of ourselves."

"Admiral Lindy seemed a bit more enthused, however. It appears as if she really, really doesn't want to go with Admiral Graham's plan," Amy noted, shrugging. "Neither do I, to be honest."

"Not even Admiral Graham wants to go with Admiral Graham's plans," Chrono noted. "This isn't a choice we made, this is the only choice we could have made, given the circumstances... Even he is hoping that there is something that changes our circumstances."

"How are your ears? Our medics found nothing out of the ordinary, but..." Amy commented.

"Cleaner than ever," Chrono noted, absent mindedly. "It will take a slight amount of time for the natural level of earwax to return, until then, the amplified sound is a little discomforting."

Amy laughed at his predicament. "Wait... if your hearing is better than ever..."

"Yes, I did hear you and the Admiral discussing how cute a bandage bow looked on me. I chose not to comment, and I chose not to react to it," Chrono said. "I am an Enforcer, I can look badass even wearing a pink ribbon."

"... Are you willing to test that?" Amy asked, grinning eagerly.

"... Moving on... You heard about Bardiche and Raising Heart. Do we have the appropriate facilities to service them?" Chrono asked.

"Yes, actually. We've been outfitted with the appropriate facilities to function as a mobile base, if need be. This operation was high priority, so the Asura got all sorts of nifty upgrades. We never did go over all of them, did we? I gave a briefing to the Admiral, but..."

"Speaking about the Admiral, where IS she exactly?" Chrono asked.

"Well, about that, it seems she's actually landside discussing something with our newest guest," Amy noted. "She left as soon as your debriefing was over."

* * *

Nobody even looked twice. Given how out of place Lindy's military uniform was in Otafuku Gai, it was... disconcerting. Still, the man was exactly where he said he'd be when he told them he wanted to talk with them.

Admiral Lindy sipped her tea. "So... Mister Jiraiya, correct?" she asked.

"The one and only," Jiraiya said, offering her a bow. "May I have the pleasure of your name, oh beautiful one?"

Lindy giggled a bit. "You may. My name is Lindy Harlaown, and I am the Admiral in charge of this operation," she explained.

"Oh ho, I do like a powerful woman who can keep me on my toes," Jiraiya said, wagging his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry to say, however, that I am not interested in you that way," Lindy said, pointedly.

"It was worth a shot," Jiraiya said, shrugging. "Can't blame a man for trying to score a beauty like yourself," he added.

"I suppose," Lindy said, diplomatically. "But I admit it's refreshing to see someone as forward as yourself. Usually, people are afraid of my ranking, too afraid to approach me," Lindy admitted.

Jiraiya grinned and downed the saucer of sake that he'd ordered. "Heh. I know the feeling. I'm pretty high up in my home country's military, myself. When they're not looking at me like I'm some sort of god, they often crap their pants if I just as much as show up," Jiraiya admitted, letting out a satisfied sigh. "Well, Admiral-chan, this is a right down mess, and it's up to us adults to pick it up, eh?"

"At least, I'd like to do as much as I can," Lindy said, nodding. "And I know that you might hold the key to a bloodless solution."

"I very well might," Jiraiya said. "If what your... son, is it?"

"Yes, Chrono-kun is my son," Lindy said, nodding.

"Cute kid," Jiraiya noted.

"He takes after his father," Lindy replied. "Short enough to pass for a much younger boy."

Jiraiya chuckled. "Late bloomer, then?" he asked, getting a nod and allowing himself another chuckle. "Anyway, if what he said is true, then I've got just as much of an interest as you do to help fix this situation. But I can't tell you whether or not I can help unless I get a little more information about it. If you're leading this operation, then I'm sure you're the one who has all the pertinent information," Jiraiya said.

"Not all of it. There is simply too much. However, I've already requested that the scholar in charge of uncovering as much information as possible be transferred to this location. When he arrives, you will receive all of the information we ourselves have," Lindy explained.

"That's a lot of trust," Jiraiya noted.

"You've put yourself at our mercy," Lindy noted.

"I'm a ninja. I could be waiting to strike from the inside, you know?" Jiraiya noted, taking another drink.

"You could, yes," Lindy admitted. "But you're not. Because you know that we're telling the truth, and we have nothing to hide, so we don't fear allowing you aboard."

"Ah, I like it when people are open. It makes it so much easier to deal with them," Jiraiya said, grinning.

"Yes, I do prefer transparency in my dealings, as well," Lindy agreed. "This entire affair has been rather stressful, to be honest."

"I see. So, are you sure you're not open to a single night of fun? I promise you will not be disappointed," Jiraiya said, grinning lecherously.

Lindy blinked. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, the night is young, and we're in a town full of casinos. I'm sure a little recon isn't going to hurt anyone, right?" Jiraiya asked.

"I was almost afraid you'd suggest that we visit a low class hotel," Lindy said, dryly.

"Oh, no, I'd never do such a thing, Admiral-chan, I've got class!" Jiraiya protested. "Well, sometimes I do," he amended. "Point is, I would take you to a high class, expensive hotel!"

Lindy laughed and shook her head. "Well, it could be fun, I guess. I suppose I can always give everyone a day off tomorrow, and we'll visit the town in group," she noted.

Jiraiya seemed to slump. "Rejected!" he whined.

Lindy actually patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find someone..."

It seemed that her comfort had its intended effect, as he bounced back immediately. "That's right! There's plenty of fish in the sea, Admiral-chan!" Jiraiya declared.

The bartender looked at the oddly dressed strangers, shook his head and left to serve someone else.

Crazies were normal. Otafuku Gai was the place where Konoha Shinobi went to piss away their paychecks. Including Maito Gai. Once you've seen Maito Gai, everything else is just sort of vanilla by comparison.

* * *

Tomorrow, everybody's day off!


	10. Chapter 10

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 10: Ninja Magic

* * *

Hours upon hours of work.

Shamal was almost horrified at having seen her mistress' body from the inside. She hadn't ever really understood the kind of damage that her mistress' body had endured until she began to see how a healthy Chakra Coil looked like. It was truly a stark difference. As they reconstructed, slowly, carefully and methodically, they also altered, just as slowly, carefully and methodically. Shamal was thanking her expertise at healing her comrades, now, as the Wolkenritter's magically constructed bodies and the ethereal nature of the Linker Core were not entirely different from the chakra coils. While the energy they manipulated was very different, their composition was not.

Much like how the Linker Core was, in essence, made of mana, the chakra coils were made of chakra. It was an odd coincidence, but one that they could exploit.

Naruto's body had no chakra in it, and so the Chakra Coils had atrophied and withered. Reconstructing them would've been impossible without any chakra to feed through them so that they lasted. However, by changing their composition...

Chakra was much more heavily physical than it was mental. When it came down to it, the spiritual energy needed to mold it was needed to do exactly that, mold the physical component. The Linker Core worked in reverse, using physical energy to manipulate mental energy. In both cases, both forces were necessary, but for different reasons.

It was, therefore, natural that the Chakra Coils be composed mostly of the physical component of Chakra, while the Linker Core would be equivalently composed of the Spiritual Component, as Tsunade put it.

To Shamal, Chakra was just another word for Mana. Of course, there were noticeably differences, based on the odd composition of it, but fundamentally they were close enough to be considered the same thing used in different ways. However, the human body of this world was a fair bit different than she was used to because it seemed that, at some point, humanity had been infused with mana and developed a way to handle it, in this world.

If Shamal had to guess, she would say that somewhere in her Mistress' ancestry, and probably in the ancestry of everyone with the ability to use chakra, there was some sort of eldritch abomination made of raw mana. Having magical circulatory systems of this sort would most likely kill your average human being, but she imagined that beings who had evolved those naturally would likely have adapted to it.

Tsunade seemed legitimately impressed at the power of the chakra that the Linker Core fed through Naruto's coils as soon as they opened them up.

It was definitely an odd thing on her senses, as everything she knew about chakra manipulation told her that such an unbalanced combination of physical and spiritual energy should just fail to produce anything, and yet... She saw Shamal using it over and over again, and she even got the explanation about why and how it worked during the middle of the operation. Manipulating it seemed simple, as well, as it responded incredibly well to Tsunade's physically oriented chakra.

The operation went a lot smoother than either thought it would. Despite everything else, they were surprised to find that the other could anticipate so well to whatever they would say or do. Probably the result of sheer experience working in their favor.

Despite reaching the final stretch, neither had slowed down. The tests they'd made had been positive, so far. What remained was to finish stretching Naruto's shriveled coils to their proper places and recomposing them into the proper composition they'd need to have to support the mana that would flow through them. This would be the most exhausting part of the operation, as they'd have to use their own chakra and mana to build the new coils, while at the same time converting it into as close an imitation as possible to Naruto's, so that she would not reject them.

It had felt like an eternity.

"Should've had a nap first," Tsunade muttered, as an assistant cleaned her forehead from sweat. "You holding up okay there?"

Shamal nodded. "I've had worse vigils," she muttered. "Though not quite as stressful, I admit."

"This is probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I've reconstructed chakra coils twice, and both times, it was on otherwise healthy shinobi who'd burned themselves out," Tsunade muttered. "But we're done," she said. "And as for the result... Well, everything on our side went well. Everything else, well, it depends on her."

Shamal nodded. "I trust in my mistress' strength. I have no fear," she said.

"Anyway, I'm going to go to sleep the rest of the day away. Now, make sure that there's somebody watching the kid at all times... We don't know what the results of this operation will be like, so it's probably best that we don't drop her from our sight," Tsunade said. "But you should get some rest, as well. Since it's just monitoring, any given nurse here can do it."

Shamal nodded.

* * *

Naruto's eyes opened slowly.

"... I'm hungry."

She was alone.

Where was everyone?

Plus, her body just felt so... sluggish. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Why was nobody there to greet her when she woke up? Why was she not on her room, and why was none of her knights helping her keep warm at night. She frowned. It seemed she'd have to punish... wait, who had she gone to sleep with?.. Odd, she couldn't remember.

Oh, well, whatever.

Naruto swung her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand.

Her chin hit the ground mere moments afterwards, as her legs became wobbly within seconds and failed to support her weight. She glared at the ground, as if it'd hurt her, and then glared at her legs, as if they'd betrayed her. She lifted herself up, but noticed that her arms and legs were both really, really tired. Well, that just wouldn't do... what could she do? She couldn't stay in bed all day. She had breakfast to make!

Wait, she knew a solution!

"Sleipnir," Naruto muttered. Six stylized wings sprouted from her back, breaking through her flimsy gown and causing it to drop. She looked around the room she was in. There weren't any clothes for her to put on. What to do, what to do?

Who needs clothes?

"Manifest Barrier Jacket," Naruto said, crossing her arms. A simple black dress that fell to mid thigh appeared on her, trimmed with golden lines in the shape of an x, meeting just at the center of her chest. It was sleeveless. There was also a pair of fingerless gloves on her hand in black, and simple looking black boots on her feet. Naruto nodded and smiled as she floated above the ground. "Now, I should get home."

* * *

"We have no idea what the end results of the operation will be. We've saved her life, but..." Shamal said, wobbling a bit as she walked towards the room. Fortunately, Signum happened to be close by when Shamal had taken a trip to the bathroom to wash her face.

Signum put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. "You must rest," Signum said, eyes narrow, tone chastising.

"I will rest as soon as I see Mistress awake once more," Shamal replied, snappily, before wincing. "I... sorry, I've been suffering from a lack of sleep, and my mood is..."

Signum shook her head. "We've all been on edge," she said. "However, I insist that you must sleep," Signum said, evenly.

"I... yes, I really do need to, but I can't just leave the mistress in the hands of a rookie nurse..." Shamal said, sighing. "Let's just check up on her quickly and then I'll take a nap."

"Very well," Signum said. They reached the door that led to Naruto's room and Signum opened the door. Shamal walked in ahead, smiling as she focused on the bed, opening her mouth to greet her comatose mistress.

However, nothing came out.

"Shamal, what is-"

Signum blinked. Her face twisted. A mental command was issued immediately. "Zafira. Vita. Whatever you are doing, I don't care. Drop it right now. Somebody has taken the mistress from her room. Find her."

She didn't need to hear their confirmation.

* * *

Naruto realized that she had no idea where she was when she landed in a park that she'd never seen before, letting the magic holding her wings go. Her legs were already feeling much better. Was this Konoha? Everything looked so different. And it looked so rundown! It was almost like a tornado or something had hit the place. Maybe some genin were playing with exploding tags. She giggled at the thought. A lot of people had looked at her oddly, but she hadn't really paid much in the way of attention.

"Hey, is that... NARUTO!"

Hearing her name called, Naruto turned around, seeing Sakura running towards her, while two girls chased after her, a blonde and a brunette. "Oh, hey, Sakura-chan! Uwa... Did Kiba-kun turn female? Wait, no, that's not the right hair color... And you," then she turned to the blonde. "... You look familiar," Naruto said, tilting her head.

"... Putting you two together... the resemblance really is uncanny," Sakura said, rubbing her chin.

"There's two of Fate-chan!" the brunette said, laughing.

"A-anyway, Naruto, these are my new friends! They're tourists seeing Konoha for the first time! They're Takamachi Nanoha," Sakura explained, gesturing to the brunette, "and Testarossa Fate," she added, gesturing to the blonde.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto said, grinning widely. "Say, Sakura... did somebody start to remodel Konoha overnight or something? Everything looks so different than it did when I went to sleep!"

"Uhm... Naruto, there was a war. You were there," Sakura said, deadpan.

"Oh, was I?.. That's weird," Naruto said. "Oh, well, whatever, nevermind. Say, what are you guys doing here?"

"Well I was taking those two on a more thorough tour. Yesterday I took them on a limited tour through a few stores, but my lunch break was over before we could really go over some of the better sights, so..."

"Oh, that sounds fun! Can I join in?" Naruto asked.

"What do you two say?" Sakura asked, turning around.

"Sure, the more the merrier!" Nanoha said, nodding and smiling brightly.

"I agree," Fate said, much more subdued.

"Great!" Naruto said, smiling.

"Okay, let's get going, then! We're going to visit one of the favorite places of some Shinobi... well, favorite is kind of the wrong word. It's one of the most frequented places and one of the most understated monuments in Konoha's history," Sakura said, though she seemed a little conflicted.

"I don't think I've ever actually walked around Konoha, myself," Naruto admitted. "I've never gone anywhere important, at least."

"It sounds very interesting," Nanoha spoke, "but what kind of monument is it?"

"I'll tell you when we get there. We're a little walk away, but we should get there in no time," Sakura promised. "Plus, it's a shortcut to the commercial district, so it's just plain convenient. Yesterday we didn't quite get to go in depth, and you seriously MUST check out all the shops! I'm pretty sure you can find things in Konoha that you'd only find in another ninja village, and even then, it's just a maybe."

"What sorts of things?" Fate asked, somewhat warily.

"Oh, all sorts of things!" Sakura said. "Konoha is a very open village, so we have migrators from pretty much everywhere who bring all sorts of stuff, and the combination of all those different cultures clashing and melding together has given rise to some things that you just can't see anywhere else! The food is a good example, you won't find a more varied restaurant district than the one in Konoha anywhere in the Elemental Nations, I guarantee that! Anyway, we're here... this is something that a lot of people think isn't that important or big, and that it isn't something that we should bring tourists to, but..."

Sakura had brought them to a large stone, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere, that had lots upon lots of characters scribbled upon it. A lot of them looked very, very old, but there was a lot of newly carved ones.

"What kind of monument is this?" Fate asked, echoing Nanoha's earlier question.

"It's a monument for Konoha's heroes," Sakura said, smiling a little bitterly.

"It's a monument to the fallen, isn't it?" Nanoha asked, eyeing the names. Of course, Fate couldn't read engraved Kanji, at least, not quickly enough to form the connection as fast as Nanoha did. Those weren't randomly placed characters. Those were names. An incredible amount of them.

"That's right," Sakura said. "I... I'm sorry I brought you here to such a grim place but... I really couldn't bring myself to come alone and... well, I'm sorry," Sakura said.

"It's okay," Nanoha said. "It is... impressive, to say the least."

"It's sort of overwhelming," Fate agreed, looking somewhat in awe at the massive stone. "This many..."

"Anyway... I had to come by to pay my respects," Sakura said, shaking her head and smiling, "and I believe that the loyal shinobi who have fallen fighting for Konoha are still looking after all of us, in some way... It's best to remain in their good side, right?"

Her cheer was fake, but nevertheless, Nanoha and Fate laughed. Naruto frowned. "They're dead," she said, simply.

"Well, yes," Sakura said, "but still-"

"They're not here. They're not looking after us. They're just dead," Naruto said, her mood clearly soured. "... They're gone, and that's it," she added, seeing the scandalized look Sakura sent her way.

"I..." but before she could say anything, Nanoha jumped in to interject.

"Should we move on? I'm really hungry," the brunette said, smiling somewhat tensely.

"Oh, me too! I almost forgot! I'm really hungry!" Naruto said, frowning. "But I don't have any money... and I should get home to make breakfast, anyway. Everyone's ought to be getting worried since I've been away. They get so overprotective," Naruto said, clearly returning to her good cheer once again. "Come on, Sakura-chan! Let's get moving!"

* * *

Nanoha was actually impressed by the commercial district in Konoha. They were just coming out of a war, and yet everyone looked to be running their business as usual. It was somewhat uplifting to see people both working hard at reconstruction and at bringing back the situation to normality. Of course, a more cynical mind would've pointed out the fact that this meant that people were used to war, or at least violence, but Nanoha was far too much of an optimist to dwell on that.

Still, she was somewhat concerned. She'd been since the very moment the person who might as well have been a clone of her best friend had showed up in the park. The fact that they really were almost identical was a little disconcerting. While Fate's face had a much harder time giving her a smile, this girl's seemed... too easy. They came by so easy, in fact, that Nanoha had a hard time believing in that smile.

The fact that she could seemingly bounce back from what appeared to be genuine and deep seated anger in an instant... It wasn't even a mask put in place. It seemed that the moment that her mind was taken off it, she truly did change her mood instantaneously.

"Fate-chan, this is giving me a bad feeling," Nanoha sent a telepathic message, as Sakura continued to explain some of the more recent changes in fashion. She felt a little bad for ignoring the enthusiastic explanation that she was giving, but fashion was the least of Nanoha's worries right now.

"You noticed, as well?" Fate asked.

"Yes... Her smile is fake," Nanoha said.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen walked through the empty hallways of the secure wing of the hospital. He saluted a chunin who'd recently lost his legs on a mission, gave his coffee mug to a passing nurse with sizable bags under her eyes and praised her on her dedication, and comforted a medic who was furious about his inability to save a young genin, asking him to never change in his compassion. The hospital was never a cheerful place, but it was a slightly better atmosphere when the Third Hokage walked around and told everyone they were doing a good job.

There was just something inspiring about a man who would remember your name even if the last time he saw you was when you were a tiny genin receiving his first mission on the desk, despite being as high up in the hierarchy as he was. The Third Hokage was a man with many character flaws, but he was perhaps the most beloved of the Hokage these days, and certainly one of the, if not the, most well respected Kage in the elemental nations, by both enemies and allies alike.

It was these little actions that made all the difference.

Finally, however, he reached his destination. He'd postponed his work for the day.

And then he met face to face with Zafira, who did not look happy at all.

"... Bad news, I take it?" Sarutobi began, and his heart fell, expecting the worst.

"Even worse. Somebody's taken our mistress."

* * *

"It's so good!" Naruto said, taking a big gulp of miso soup.

"Eheh, thank you, little lady! I take pride in my work!" the old man who'd cooked her broth said, grinning eagerly.

Naruto smiled and hopped off the stall seat. Sakura paid for her meal, as per the agreement to get Naruto to stop worrying over getting home to cook breakfast, and the other two quickly followed. "What did you think? Despite its small size, this is one of the better known places in Konoha," Sakura said.

"It was very good," Nanoha said, nodding at her.

"I really liked the noodles. They were hand made," Fate said, adding her own two cents.

"Well, it is in my name," the old man said, winking. "Nevertheless, you're always welcome at Ichiraku Ramen," the man said, giving them a thumbs up as they left.

"Well, now that we've got food in our bellies, is there anything in particular you wanted to see? There are lots of things to see! We can even go see some of the ninja who are training! There's usually a few people watching some of the higher level shinobi training their abilities," Sakura said, nodding.

"Ninja techniques are all really impressive!" Naruto agreed.

"That'd be really nice."

And of course it'd be. The training grounds close to the commercial district were known for attracting training for flashier techniques, and for good reason. It was always a good place to attract wealthy clients who would request for you personally, so Shinobi were always around, showing their more impressive abilities. In their visit, Sakura explained some techniques that the ninja used.

They saw some ninja fighting while standing on the side of a building, while another pair conjured two really large dragons of flame that clashed and exploded really impressively. Rather than a brutal attack, though, it seemed like really pretty fireworks, and it left both Nanoha and Fate awed. Naruto's eyes glinted as she watched attently.

"So they do that just by making all those signs with their hands? That's amazing!" Nanoha said, clearly impressed.

"Well, not really, there's a lot that goes into-" Sakura began to explain, before shaking her head. "It's really hard to explain if you don't know chakra theory..."

"Basically, we use ninja magic, make it into fire-natured magic within our minds, and then give it shape and power with our hands," Naruto said. "It's easy!"

"Ninja magic..? I guess you can call it that," Sakura muttered, shaking her head.

* * *

Ninja magic?

"Fate, you don't think she's..."

"She might be," Fate said. "The Wolkenritter might've described us to her."

The telepathic conversation took a moment, but it was enough for Sakura to notice their distress.

"I know it's a little scary, but they've got everything under control," Sakura explained. "And if they don't, well, there's always ANBU patrolling around the area. Oh, they're sort of like the police, except you don't see them until they're needed."

"Ninja police," Nanoha muttered. "I don't know why it sounds so amazing," she wondered aloud.

"Magic Ninja Police," Naruto corrected.

"If she is, then it's really, really obvious," Nanoha mentioned over the telepathic link. "But... It doesn't seem like Sakura is reacting especially in any way... either she knows too, or it's just normal comments for her..."

"Anyway, Sakura-san, you're a ninja, right? Can you do stuff like that, too?" Nanoha asked.

"Some of it," Sakura replied, blushing a little in embarrassment, "but some of that is really difficult to do..."

"Because it requires a lot of ninja magic, and Sakura's got very little," Naruto said, grinning at the pink haired girl. "So Sakura does stuff that requires a lot of control and precision, instead!"

It seemed like Sakura interpreted it as something to be ashamed of, though Nanoha couldn't measure why she would think something like that. Anyone with power could throw it recklessly into a technique, but...

"Really precise work requires a lot more effort than just throwing a bunch of power at something," Nanoha commented, nodding.

"You really think so?" Sakura asked, looking somewhat hopeful. "Everyone always makes fun of me because I'm really weak, though..."

"Are you really weak?" Fate asked, tilting her head. "To me, it just sounds like a different kind of strength..."

"No, you're right, of course. I'm sorry, I got a little relapse, I usually don't dwell on that, since these days I'm trying to become a medic... Need really good chakra control for that, so it's perfect for me," Sakura said, shaking her head. "Anyway, let's move on... There are a couple of other training grounds around here, and the closest is the water one..."

* * *

Naruto giggled as she watched the two newcomers be amazed at the sight of ninja walking on water while making spheres, walls and all other sorts of constructs. This one happened to be more of a showoff than the other ones as the two ninja who were 'training' were actually going full out in having a water duel. The turn out was much higher, as well, as they happened to be a pair of attractive kunoichi wearing revealing clothing.

Really, sometimes...

"Is there something on your mind?" she asked, tilting her head as soon as she noticed that the two civilians were looking at her oddly.

"Could... Could I talk with you alone for a second?" Fate asked.

"Sure," Naruto replied, smiling widely at her. "Lead the way!"

Fate nodded and gestured towards a little open space that was between the crowd and the wall that separated the training field from the commercial district proper. The two walked off while Nanoha and Sakura were engaged in conversations. Once they were there, Fate took a deep breath and turned to face Naruto.

"You're a mage, aren't you?" Fate asked, bluntly.

"Sort of, yes," Naruto said. "... What about it?" she asked, somewhat confused. "Aren't you a mage, as well?"

"So you knew..?" Fate asked, sounding somewhat guarded and wary.

"Knew what?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. What was she talking about?

"But you just..." Fate began, before shaking her head. "Nevermind. Then... You don't think we're your enemy?"

"Why would I think that? Are you?" Naruto asked, still pretty confused. "'Cuz if you are, I'm supposed to scream for help."

"No, we're not," Fate said. "We... actually want to be friends."

"Friends? Sure!" Naruto said. "Say... you really do look familiar. Have I met you somewhere?"

"... We're very similar, it's eerie," Fate admitted.

"Hey, you two!" Nanoha shouted from where Naruto and Fate had left her and Sakura. "Come here!"

When Fate and Naruto turned to address them, though, they weren't alone. Two boys were with them. Inuzuka Kiba and Uchiha Sasuke. "Oh, hey, you guys! What's up?"

"I thought you were in the hospital..?" Kiba asked, somewhat confused.

"You were seriously hurt..." Sasuke muttered.

"I was?" Naruto asked, perplexed. "Maybe you saw something that didn't happen. Anyway, what's up, you guys? I don't usually see you when you've got free time outside of missions!"

"That's because 'free time' is a foreign concept to my team, girly!" said a voluptuous woman who dropped from what had to be one of the rooftops. "I sent these two ahead, but I've gotta gather the team. Hokage-sama is mobilizing the troops for some reason, probably a drill or something, given we were caught flatfooted by the invasion and all."

"Ne, Anko-chan, I haven't seen you in like, forever!" Naruto said, blinking.

"I've been busier than ever, lately. Konoha needs all the jounin it can to take high ranking missions and make solid cash," she said, waving her hand. "Anyway, I've gotta take Sakura with me. Sorry to ruin your double date," Anko continued, "but we've gotta go by yesterday."

Hearing that, Sakura frowned, but nodded. "Sorry, guys, but life's really busy right now. I promise I'll make it up to you and show you the night life in Konoha one of these days! I'll see you later!"

"Oh, no, it's no problem, we understand it's your job," Nanoha said, smiling kindly at her. "Right, Fate-chan?"

"Right," Fate agreed. "We don't mind!"

"I'm still sorry. Anyway, I'm always ready for a mission, sensei," Sakura said.

"Good. 'cuz we need to report about ten minutes ago," Anko said, flippantly. "See ya, kiddies!"

Sasuke and Kiba gave similar greetings, and Sakura gave an apologetic one, but soon, all of the ninja team had left.

"I guess that's a downside of being a ninja. You can get called into action at the worst times," Nanoha said, "that's too bad. I was looking forward to seeing more of the village."

"Well, I can't show you around the village, since I haven't seen it all that much myself... but would you like to drop by my house?" Naruto asked, turning towards Fate and Nanoha. "We're not too far..."

"I wouldn't want to impose..." Fate began.

"But I insist," Naruto said, smiling. "It gets really lonely and boring during the afternoon, since nobody ever comes home then..." she said, though her smile became a pout midway through.

"When you put it that way, we can't say no," Nanoha admitted, shaking her head.

"Eheh, I know, that's why I say it that way," Naruto said, once more cheerful as ever. "It always gets the Old Man to do whatever I want!" she declared. "Come on, my house is not too far!"

* * *

And it wasn't, really. It was just a ten minute walk. "Well, here we go, home sweet home! I... uh. I just forgot I don't have keys. Then again, I woke up naked, so I don't have anything on me," Naruto admitted, putting a fist to her own temple as if to gesture at her own need to be smacked. "But we can fly right over the outer walls! Everything inside should be unlocked!"

"Ah... fly?" Nanoha asked.

"Yep! You can't?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. "Aren't you mages?"

"I... I see," Fate said. "You knew, then?"

"That you're mages? Well, you do have Linker Cores. But I guessed," Naruto replied. "Can you fly or not? 'cuz if you can't, I think I can carry you, but we'd have to do it one at a time."

"Flying without a device is really hard, and requires a lot of focus," Nanoha said, frowning.

"... What's a device?" Naruto asked. "I just do it like this. Sleipnir," Naruto muttered, closing her eyes and forming the magic within her mind. Six wings in black sprouted behind her back. She lifted a few centimeters off the ground, her wings fluttering slightly as she did. "Isn't that how you usually do it, too?"

"I... no, we have our devices carry over most of the calculations so that we can pay more attention to the environment around us," Fate said.

"I still don't know what a device is. Well, grab on, then! I'll carry you over!" Naruto said, extending her arms.

Nanoha and Fate looked at each other, but eventually agreed to be carried past the barrier. It took a little work, but eventually, Naruto carried them both through.

"You're heavier than you look! You might need to cut down on the ramen," Naruto said, frowning at the two of them.

"It's muscle," Fate said, blushing slightly.

"Fate-chan, you don't have muscles..." Nanoha muttered, frowning a little. "You're getting fat, but it's all going to your breasts," Nanoha muttered with a pout of her own, poking Fate's chest. "Why do you have them, already..?"

Naruto giggled. "Anyway, please, make yourselves at home, I'll bring you something to drink shortly," she said, opening the paper doors that led to the main hall of the manor house and showing them the couches set up for the precise eventuality of tea at home, all around a short table.

The two sat down, while Naruto moved out of the room, presumably towards the kitchen.

"Fate-chan, do you think this might be a trap?" Nanoha muttered.

"... I don't think so," Fate said. "She seems to be genuine... in that regard, at least."

"Her grasp of magic is... weird. It's like she's not even aware of how it actually works. Could it possibly be so instinctive for her?" Nanoha asked. "It doesn't make any sense. You can't use magic if you can't make all those calculations in your head, and flight, especially with passengers, isn't something you can just do..."

"The Book of Darkness probably serves as her device, even without her knowing it, but... she doesn't seem to have it with her right now," Fate mentioned. At least, Naruto hadn't seemed to have the Book of Darkness. They didn't know if it could take an alternate form to hide. "Still, she could detect we had Linker Cores so easily..."

Naruto came back in before they could comlete the conversation, carrying a tray with three teacups, a steaming kettle and a small plate with a few biscuits on it. "I had a little something to eat, too," Naruto said. "Though these aren't home made, I'm sorry," she added.

"It's okay," Nanoha said, shaking her head.

Naruto set the platter on the table and quickly, but precisely, poured each of them their tea. It was actually kind of impressive, since she could do it in really abrupt and quick movements that would've had most people spilling tea all over the place. Lots of experience, she explained, pouring tea for a lot of people.

"Anyway... So you're mages? That's really cool. I've never met a mage, myself!" Naruto said. "And I can only do basic stuff, which I'm not very good at!"

"But... flying is really hard. Much more so to do without a device," Nanoha admitted. "That's really impressive. Where did you learn?"

"... I... don't know?" Naruto said, tilting her head. "Where did I learn to fly..? How do I fly?" she asked, tilting her head. "I'm... not sure I know how to, actually. I just sort of... do it," she said. "The spell just forms in my head when I think about it."

"Really? That's very strange. We can't do magic accidentally like that," Nanoha said. "That's some talent, right there," she added.

"You think?" Naruto asked.

"Have you thought of something else?" Fate asked. "Other ways to use your magic?"

"Well, when I woke up naked, I thought I needed clothes, and then another spell just suddenly came up, and I just knew it would give me a barrier jacket... and... What is a barrier jacket, anyway?" she asked.

"... There's something very weird going on," Nanoha muttered. "Naruto-chan... I have to ask you flat out. Are you the Master of the Book of Darkness?"

"Yep!" Naruto said. "Are you guys friends of the Knights, then? It'd be just like Signum, sending someone to look after me while they're out training. I'm a big girl, I can look after myself," Naruto said, pouting.

"Er... no, we're not quite... friends with the Wolkenritter," Nanoha admitted. "We'd like to be, though."

"They're pretty cool, aren't they? I guess I can understand why you'd want to be their friend! Well, if you want to wait, I'm sure they'll come home, eventually. Meanwhile, do you want to do something fun? It gets really boring around here, with nothing to do, but we do have a dojo. Maybe you two could show me some spells?"

"That sounds great! Maybe with you here we can have a civilized talk and solve our problems peacefully!" Nanoha said, grinning happily. "And sure, I'd be happy to show you a few spells! I'm a bit limited without my device, but..."

"We can do a few of our spells," Fate added.

* * *

"It's so pretty!" Naruto muttered, mostly to herself, as she watched Fate and Nanoha play what amounted to table tennis without a table, using a glowing sphere that shifted between pink and yellow as they bathed it back and forth with their hands. The sphere seemed to randomly ricochet off thin air, and so it kept them on their toes, even though the distance they were at would make the speed it was traveling at too slow to present a challenge.

When it was pink, it made softer, but more pronounced curves, while when it was yellow, it made sharper, but less significant, turns. It was really an interesting display, as the two put their expertise to the test in both attacking and blocking. The fact that they were batting two spheres back and forth only added to the impressiveness of the situation, and the lines that the spheres left as they trailed through the air were incredibly pretty.

Ultimately, though, Fate slipped up and failed to bat away a pink sphere that crashed against her forearm, as she had accidentally overextended, and Nanoha knocked the second pink sphere, the one that had just been yellow, all the way back, though it sailed just above Fate's forehead.

With a chuckle, Nanoha held up a victory sign, cheering at her victory.

"I'm not used to doing this without Bardiche to help," Fate said. "It's really hard to keep up with the calculations I have to make at the same time I move around..."

"But it's good training," Nanoha said. "This way we can relieve our devices from some of the burden and they can focus on more complicated things," she explained.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a nearby rooftop, Shamal grimaced as she faced her fellow knights. "I've found the mistress, she's back home..." she announced. "And I also found two other mages with her."


	11. Chapter 11

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 11: Prisoners..?

* * *

"Do you think you could teach me to do that, too?" Naruto asked, looking at both Nanoha and Fate, who were looking somewhat conflicted.

"It's... okay, I guess," Nanoha said, after a few moments' hesitation. "If you know how to fly, I'm surprised you can't make even a basic bullet," she admitted.

"I've never tried," Naruto admitted, scratching the back of her neck and laughing a little.

"Maybe you can do it," Fate said, "... how do, exactly, you fly?"

"I don't know," Naruto admitted, shrugging. "I just thought I needed some way to move and then I flew... I wonder if that..." Naruto then nodded to herself and closed her eyes, concentrating. "Pierce Through, Bloody Dagger!" she muttered, opening her eyes and looking fully serious.

Both Nanoha and Fate yelped when a ring of glowing, blood red spikes appeared directly in front of Naruto. They numbered sixteen, and they were in such shape that they'd also serve as a shield in a pinch.

"Uwaaa... Is this how it's done?" Naruto asked, before she looked at a dummy that was actually just there as a decoration, near one of the dojo's walls. "Let's see if I can hit it..."

She did. A lot. Sixteen projectiles launched at the dummy, each flying ridiculously quickly and making extremely sharp turns, and tore it appart, each of them exploding as they struck, causing it, and the wall behind it, to be reduced to unrecognizability. Naruto laughed and showed her excitement at her first bit of combat magic ever performed.

"That was so fun!" she said. "I wanna do it again... But I don't want to have to replace everything..."

* * *

While Naruto was debating the merits of destroying everything in sight to satisfy her newfound bloodlust, or so it appeared anyway, Nanoha and Fate were both frozen in place.

Why, one may ask?

Well, they were still reeling from the sheer _wrong_ that was seeing a novice cast not one, not two, not even four but sixteen bullets, of a highly complex spell, and made it look easy. If that wasn't enough, the daggers had flown very, very fast, and had made turns that Nanoha was sure were not actually possible to make. The daggers had seemed to just change direction with no regard for inertia or Newton's laws.

The fact that the spell had initially shot the daggers all over the place, causing them to arc towards their target instead of just flying in a straight line, was a little strange, but nothing out of the ordinary. After all, having the bullets close off the avenues of escape by coming in from every direction was basic, but it was usually not feasible with a spell bullet this quick...

"That was amazing, Naruto-chan," Nanoha said, smiling widely. "You must be very powerful!"

"I am?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. "I dunno. I've always been very weak..."

"Well, you're definitely not weak now," Fate said, still a bit in shock.

"Wait, I know! I don't want to destroy anything, but I can fight you guys, right?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"We can't fight right now. Our devices are... out of order," Nanoha said, frowning a little, remembering that it'd been this very girl's knights who had destroyed their devices in the first place. "But we can spar once we get our devices back!"

"You promise? I think doing magic might be really fun! It's almost like being a ninja! Though I can't walk on water..." Naruto muttered.

Yes, that was quite a shocker... bet some people back at home would flip their lids over that one, Nanoha mused, "I promise!"

"Awesome!" Naruto said. "Okay... I guess that's enough magic practice for now. I'll get back to it later. Let's go back in," Naruto said, gesturing towards the dojo's paper doors. It took a minute for them to return back to the manor proper, and once they did, they actually retreated to the Master Bedroom, also known as Naruto's room.

Mostly because it had the largest TV in the house, and a super comfortable bed, as they'd found. It was also more than large enough to accomodate all three of them.

"Why is your bed so big?" Nanoha wondered, somewhat confused.

"Well, I had a normal two people bed," she began, "but then when I got slightly bigger, we didn't all fit. And everyone kept using the excuse that we just wouldn't fit on a normal two people bed, so I went to the old man, that's the Hokage by the way, and he told me there were bigger beds and helped me get this one," she said, patting the silken covers of the bed. "So that they couldn't use it as an excuse."

"By they, you mean... the Wolkenritter, right?" Fate asked.

"Yep! My Knights!" Naruto said, nodding eagerly. "Anyway, in this bed, we can all fit comfortably so they can't complain!"

Both Fate and Nanoha laughed a little at the image of the two knights they'd met being uncomfortable because their master made them share a bed at night. Seeing both Signum and Vita blush would've been quite funny. Naruto took that as a cue to begin telling a few stories of her life, mostly centering around the many ways she amused herself by, one way or another, teasing the people she cared about. She also expressed some of her grievances, such as the knights' insistence on propriety and their unwillingness to refer to her by her name.

In return, Nanoha and Fate traded stories with her about their own childhoods. Fate's was, of course, heavily edited as an account of her... less than happy childhood. They didn't need to depress their host, after all, and it was painful for Fate to remember in any case. Finally, though, they ran out of stories to tell, and instead just traded opinions about random, every day things.

It was... surprising, how easy it was to talk with Naruto, Nanoha mused. It wasn't all that dissimilar from her relationship with Suzuka and Alisa, come to think of it. At least, after she'd told them she was a mage. Odd though it was, Nanoha already considered her a friend. For the few hours that they spent at her home, Nanoha and Fate had actually completely forgotten about their assignment, instead simply choosing to spend time at a friend's place.

It seemed, though, that their host was reaching the end of her endurance, though, as she yawned, interrupting herself as she was explaining why one should never put ninja on a boat and call them ninja pirates. "I'm sorry," Naruto said, knowing that yawning on a guest's face was terribly rude, "but I'm just... so tired all of a sudden."

"We understand. You did just get out of the hospital," Fate mentioned. "It's best if you don't... overexert yourself," she explained.

"So that weird room I left this morning was the hospital, then..?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. "Wonder why I was there," she said, shrugging. "I..." but before she could begin to speak, another yawn prevented her from doing so. She rubbed at her eyes, but it was clear that she was getting too sleepy to continue the conversation. "uwa... I'm such a terrible host," she muttered, swaying a little."

"No, it's okay, you should rest a lot," Nanoha said, remembering that Naruto seemed to completely ignore the fact that she'd spent time in the hospital recently. Probably she didn't want to think about it. "Here, let me help you..."

Nanoha lifted Naruto off the bed, and gestured for Fate to open the covers, depositing Naruto in. "You'll have to dismiss your barrier jacket, though," Nanoha said, frowning. "I don't imagine it's comfortable to sleep in..."

"I... dunno," Naruto said. After a moment, her barrier jacket began to shine and it vanished, revealing Naruto in her birthday suit.

"Wow. She really does look just like you, Fate-chan... though she's a little older, it seems..." Nanoha muttered, looking at Naruto as they pulled the covers over her.

Fate blushed, knowing exactly what it was that had Nanoha saying that. "Nanoha!" she chastised, blushing thoroughly.

The brunette chuckled. "Are you comfortable? Do you want anything?"

"I want Vita," Naruto mumbled, sleepily. "I want my knights... I dun... sleep without'em... Turn off the TV... so loud..."

Fate did as asked, before turning back to her fellow blonde, finding her asleep.

"It seems she was more tired than she let on... we'll have to let ourselves out," Nanoha said, seeing Fate nod in response.

As stealthily and silently as they could, they removed themselves from the large bed and then left the room, taking care to turn off the lights. They had made it to the main hall when Nanoha froze, causing Fate to freeze as well.

The reason why?

Nanoha had recently found the tip of Laevateinn. It was poking her in the back of the neck.

Well... this situation just went to shit.

* * *

Fate couldn't move a muscle. For a moment, she was utterly terrified. She feared that if she made the slightest move...

But Signum put the blade down, and Fate could finally begin breathing again, as Nanoha relaxed.

"Mistress would not wish for me to kill you," she said, bluntly.

"But we will not hesitate to do so."

Only then did Fate notice the presence behind her, as a male voice startled her.

"If the TSAB learns of her location... if the TSAB learns of her existence..." a third spoke, drawing Fate's attention to her left.

"We will crush you," Vita finished.

"I will not prevent you from leaving, as you are unarmed... but if I were to learn that you harmed our mistress in any way..." Signum warned.

"There will be nothing that will stop us. We will claim revenge," the male said.

"Do not prove my faith in your honor misplaced," Signum said, turning around and leaving, going upstairs. Fate imagined that she was going to check on Naruto.

Vita's hand clenched on Graf Eisen's shaft, and she glared at Fate and Nanoha.

"Now... leave in peace. We won't attack you, as you are unarmed," the sole male explained.

"Well... you don't bring a spear to peace talks, right?" Nanoha asked.

The man seemed amused, if the way he hummed was to be believed. "An old Belkan joke," he muttered.

"Maybe... maybe we can actually sit down and talk?" Nanoha asked, and Fate could practically hear the hope in her voice. "I don't want to fight you. I don't want Naruto-chan to be my enemy..."

"You work for the TSAB," Vita said, bluntly. "You are a risk to our Mistress."

"We don't want to arrest Naruto or kill her or anything, I swear!" Nanoha tried. "We just want to talk! We just want to stop a tragedy! Every time the book is filled, the result has been the same! You have to listen to me!"

"If you want to talk... We can talk. Not now," the blonde Knight said, her eyes closed.

"Shamal, what are you-" Vita protested.

"They have us at a disadvantage, Vita," the man countered.

"Zafira, you too?!" Vita protested once more. "Don't you know..! We can't let them-"

"They already know where Naruto is, Vita," Shamal said, shaking her head. "They know what she looks like. They know too much... the only other option is to kill them."

Vita's hands clenched on Graf Eisen. "It wouldn't be the first time," she said...

"You know Mistress forbid us from killing non-ninja and children," Zafira said, simply. "And... even more, if you killed those two, mistress would never forgive you. They are her friends," he added. "Even if she has known them for such a short time..."

"Naruto-chan is very nice," Nanoha agreed. "I promise you, we don't want to make trouble, we just want to avoid it," she said. "I don't know how I can convince you..."

"If you want to talk, coming unarmed is a good start," Signum said, appearing at the top of the stairs that led to the manor's second floor. "You have us at a disadvantage, but do not make the mistake of threatening a cornered animal. We will fight, and we will fight viciously to protect her."

Fate nodded. "I understand," she said. And she did. She'd fight just as hard, if it were Nanoha who was on the line. She understood, on a certain level, the position of the knights. Something precious to them was at stake, and they were fighting to protect it. "I swear that we do not intend to harm her in any way. And I am willing to do whatever it may take to convince you so," she said. "Even... I shall become your hostage. That way, you can be certain."

"A hostage, hm... That is not our usual mode of operation," Signum said, evenly.

"And how can we be sure you're actually worth anything as a slave..? You're certainly strong, but the Bureau has plenty of strong people," Vita said, narrowing her eyes dubiously. "It wouldn't surprise me if they attack us anyway, even with your life as a collateral..."

"I am Admiral Lindy Harlaown's adopted daughter. The process has not yet been finalized and the change to my name is pending, but this is true," Fate explained, shaking her head.

"I see..." Signum said, nodding. "That is acceptable, then."

"Then I will stay, too," Nanoha said, "Fate-chan is my friend, and I won't allow her to go through this alone."

"Nanoha, you don't need to-" Fate countered.

"No, Fate-chan... I need to," Nanoha said, shaking her head. "I'm your friend, I'm here with you to support you," she said, and held out her hand.

Fate took it and smiled.

"We have guest bedrooms," Signum said. "I trust you must contact your superiors and explain the situation. Zafira, Vita, accompany them. Shamal, you should rest. I will guard our mistress."

Shamal looked at Signum. "If anything... out of the ordinary occurs, call me immediately. Neither myself nor Tsunade have any idea what will happen from now, but... the more monitored she is, the better," Shamal said.

* * *

"So that's the situation..." Lindy said, eyes closed. "Why did you two go off on your own? You should have taken Arf along for protection," she said, her tone disapproving and chastising.

"We had a guard, of sorts. We were accompanied by a ninja," Nanoha said, though her wince at the start of her second sentence wasn't very safety-inspiring. "Besides, the ninja police keeps people safe."

"Ninja... police?" someone asked.

"Magic Ninja Police," Fate supplied.

"That is the coolest thing I've ever heard in my life," the same voice said.

"Regardless," Lindy interrupted, "I believe we can make your situation a little... better. My negotiations with Jiraiya have been more than succesful. He is a very reasonable man," she said, frowning a little, almost as if refusing to pay a higher compliment for some reason, "and has seen our side of the situation. He will be going to Konoha to speak with their leader soon. If all goes well, we may be able to solve this situation."

Nanoha nodded. "Thank you for your hard work," she said.

"I should be saying that to you," Lindy replied. "Oh, and don't worry. I will inform Chrono and Arf."

"Thank you, again. We'll be spending the night here, so..."

"Yes, yes, we will cancel your hotel bills," Lindy said.

"You know, if you just wanted to have a slumber party, you could have asked," a new voice stated, entering the conversation. "Too bad you're still too young for my kind of slumber party. I can already tell you two are going to be beautiful in a few years... Anyway, you two go and sleep tight for the night."

"Yes, Jiraiya-san," Nanoha said. "Good night, everyone!" she added, echoed by Fate and then a general chorus from the ship's side, before the conversation ended.

Fate sighed. "That went a lot better than I thought it would," she admitted. "Anyway, we're done," she said, looking at the two who were waiting in the shadows.

Vita and Zafira nodded.

"I'll take you two to a pair of guest rooms... or do you prefer sharing?" he asked. "The beds should be big enough..."

Fate blushed, but Nanoha didn't even think for a moment before choosing to share a single room.

* * *

Naruto smiled. "Hiya, pretty lady!" she said, grinning eagerly as she was greeted by a now fairly familiar sight.

"Hello, my beloved mistress," the pretty lady replied, opening her arms wide.

It didn't take long for Naruto to jump into her arms. She was the most comfortable seat in the vast void of nothingness. Admittedly, she was the only seat, but Naruto wasn't one to sweat the small stuff.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" the woman asked.

"Not yet," Naruto admitted. "It's pretty hard! And I haven't had any time to do it, since I've been unconscious a lot and all. But it's okay, I'm sure I'll come up with something properly cool for you!"

The woman giggled. "Any name you choose to give me is fine. It will be your gift to me, and I will treasure it all the same," she said.

"No, that's not right! It has to be something that fits! Otherwise, it's no good at all," Naruto said, nodding as if signalling the end of that thread of conversation.

"How have you been lately?" the pretty lady asked, adjusting Naruto so she rested comfortably against her chest.

"I had lots of fun!" Naruto commented. "I made two new friends today! Their names are Nanoha and Fate!" she said, happily.

"Oh, really? What are they like?" she asked.

"They're both really nice! They're new to the city, and have probably never seen a ninja vilage in like, ever. Anyway, they're both mages! How cool is that?" Naruto asked, gesturing wildly with her hands, squirming in her woman shaped seat.

"Mages?" the pretty lady asked, tilting her head.

"Yep! They can do magic! They showed me and everything! I bet that they're very strong with their deceives!" Naruto said, nodding her head and stroking her chin.

"Devices," the pretty lady corrected. "And... you've been pretty confused, right?"

"Actually, yes! How did you know?" Naruto asked, clearly shocked.

"I have my ways," she replied, chuckling.

"Do you know what's happening then? Why I know so much stuff that I didn't before? And... do you know how I do that flying thing?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do," the pretty lady replied, patting her head. "You see, my beloved mistress, those are all things that I, and by extension, you, can do. Because we are connected," she explained.

Naruto tilted her head. "Connected? How?"

"It's really long and tedious to explain... and it's not really all that important," the pretty lady said. "But you know who I am, so it should be pretty self explanatory to you."

"Right, right," Naruto said, shaking her head.

"Anyway, don't worry about it for now. For now, all you need to do is rest and relax so you can recover, okay?" the pretty lady said. "If you don't, you'll worry everyone..."

"I know, that's why I'm trying not to make trouble!" Naruto said, shaking her head. "Oh, but, I'm being rude! How have YOU been, pretty lady? How do you spend your time anyway?"

The pretty lady giggled a bit. "I've been... sad and happy, I guess, since I was watching you."

Naruto blinked, her confusion clear. "How can you be sad and happy at the same time?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Well, I'm happy when I watch you, because you're my beloved mistress," the pretty lady explained. "Even... even though we took away your dream, you've been so kind to all of us... I can never repay you, for everything you've done for us, and yet... I'm sad, because it's because of me that you've been in so much pain... it's because of me that you've lost your dream..."

"What? What dream?" Naruto asked, seemingly confused.

"It's because of me... you can never be a ninja because of me, Naruto. Something happened when the link was first stablished, and... your chakra coils were destroyed then. It's because of that..."

"Oh. That," Naruto said, shrugging. "Who even needs to be Hokage anyway? I've got what I've always wanted... I don't need anything else," Naruto said, bringing a hand up to pat the pretty lady's head. "So stop thinking about that stuff, okay?"

"But... my mistress, I-"

"Don't..." Naruto said, shaking her head. "You have nothing to apologize for... You've given me what I've always wanted. You've given me a family. You've made me happy... truly happy... That's why I don't mind..." Naruto blinked. "Huh... why are you crying? Are you sad again?"

"No... not at all, my mistress. I'm crying because I'm happy. I'm happy that you are happy."

Naruto was confused. "Eh? You can be sad and happy and you can cry from happiness... you're weird," Naruto said, almost as if she'd come upon some life changing conclusion.

* * *

"My bed is empty," Naruto muttered. "... Why is my bed empty?" she asked, looking around her room. Signum was seated against a wall, clad in armor and holding Laevateinn. She had probably fallen asleep guarding her, or something. "Signum, wake up right now," Naruto commanded.

The Pink Haired knight snapped to attention instantaneously. "Mistress," she said, not a hint of sleepiness in her tone. "I am glad to see you awake," she said.

"Signum, why are you dressed in armor?" Naruto asked.

"There are possible enemies in our home, Mistress, and I only felt it prudent-" Signum began, before blinking and stopping when she saw Naruto shaking her head.

"Signum, put on sleep clothes," Naruto ordered.

"But, Mistress, I-" Signum protested.

"Are you going to disobey me, Signum?" Naruto asked, casually. "That's fine. Strip."

"Wha-"

"**STRIP.**"

* * *

"... Naruto woke up," Shamal said, wincing as she heard Signum's telepathic plea for help. "And she's not happy about something... wonder what it could be..?"

Zafira was leaning on the kitchen counter, arms crossed, clearly trying his hardest not to think about anything. Shamal laughed, which brought his attention to him. "How are you? You were pretty tired..."

"I had enough juice left in me for a couple restoration spells... A good night's rest took care of the rest," Shamal said, shaking her head. "Other than my hair being dirty because I haven't had time for a bath..." she said, stretching a little. "So, about our guests..."

"They've settled in comfortably. At least, relatively," Zafira said, waving his hand. "We should tell Mistress..."

"Tell me what?" Naruto asked, as she walked into the room pulling something by the arm. That something being, of course, Signum.

To see the usually stoic knight blushing was a rare, and quite amusing, sight. To see her blushing because she was wearing a criminally short skirted maid costume was... hilarious. Zafira coughed as he disguised his laughter, while Shamal didn't have an ounce of shame in her. Luckily, Signum was far beyond reacting violently, even if she secretly wanted to strangle Shamal at that time.

"Anyway... Since you thought you could disobey your mistress, today you'll be helping me with breakfast. You get to rest, Shamal," Naruto said, nodding at her. "we have someone to fetch everything for us!"

One of the downsides of having a big house with a big kitchen was that, well, walks everywhere just got that much longer. While the Kitchen wasn't gigantic, it was still comfortably large enough to hold an actual kitchen team, instead of just a single cook. Shamal was glad she wasn't going to be the one fetching everything or washing the dishes.

"Anyway, we had to tell you, Mistress, that we have guests today. The two girls that you brought here yesterday... well, it was late, and their hotel was far, so... we offered to let them stay over," Shamal explained.

"They should be waking up anytime now," Zafira noted.

"Huh?" Naruto asked. "Oh... oh right, I fell asleep! I feel like the worst host ever! When did you guys arrive?" she asked, tilting her head.

"We got here just as you fell asleep, Mistress, so don't worry about that," Signum said.

"Oh, that's good. Okay, Signum, since you, ahem, volunteered to be our slave for today, you're going to start working now..."

* * *

A delicious smell wafted through the air. Food!

Vita stumbled into the kitchen. She was tired, since she had slept about as much as Shamal had given her constant worry causing insomnia, but she didn't have healing magic to bring her back to full strength, and so she was still quite exhausted. There was also the fact that she'd been sleeping alone for like, a week. That had been very hard to get used to, after so many nights spent in the role of a teddy bear. "Mistress' breakfast..." she muttered, drooling a little.

What they could make just wouldn't compare. She didn't know exactly why it was, but she understood that the food anyone else made, no matter how good, just couldn't compare to what her mistress would make for her. As it was delicious, she didn't care, and she hadn't cared when Shamal felt offended about Vita telling her as much. Shamal had been forced to admit she wasn't comparatively that good, but she still complained from time to time.

Deciding that washing her face was lower in the priority list than stuffing it full of tasty things, Vita had quickly come downstairs to find the kitchen. The table had already been set. "G'morning," she muttered, sleepily.

"Good morning, Vita-chan."

Wait... she knew that voice... "You..!"

"... Eh... what?" she looked like she had no idea.

"Vita-chan, stop making a fuss and eat your breakfast."

Well honed survival instincts made Vita jump to sit on the kitchen table, ironically used more than the one in the dinning room by virtue of convenience. She mumbled a thank you when somebody placed a bowl of rice in front of her, and began eating in earnest, taking a moment to pause and give yet another thank you when she was given a tall glass of orange juice. It came in handy seconds after, as she had to push down a clump of rice that just would not go down.

For a moment, she thought that was Signum, but that couldn't be right. Why would Signum be dressed in a maid costume and serving her breakfast?

...

Vita blushed and shook her head. The image of the Wolkenritter's de facto captain in a maid's outfit waiting her on hand and foot just would not go away. And why was she thinking of herself in that same position under Naruto? That couldn't be right... Wouldn't her mental image be the other way around?.. There, that was better.

Besides, there was something more pressing, which had to do with an obstructed airway and her trying to dislodge whatever it was that was preventing her from breathing.

* * *

"Will she be alright?" Fate asked, turning to Naruto, somewhat worried about Vita choking not once but twice.

"I think she just noticed that we both have visits and that Signum is on punishment duty. We don't see that very often," Shamal noted, calmly ignoring Vita as she began to turn purple, drinking from her coffee cup that was more milk than coffee.

"Oh. Punishment duty..?" Fate asked, somewhat confused.

"Happens every once in a while, when the mistress wakes up in a bad mood and whoever's at hand fails to meet her demands. Signum got off lightly this time," Zafira said, swallowing the bread he had been munching on a moment before.

"Very lightly. The last time I was on punishment, I had to wear an apron," Shamal stated, frowning.

"What's so bad about that? You're wearing one now," Nanoha said, looking confused.

"An apron is very useful, but... it was also the only thing I was wearing over my underwear," Shamal said, turning bright red.

"And the moral of the story is, when your mistress says jump, you ask how high on the way up," Zafira said, shrugging. "We have fun."

* * *

Well, this chapter took longest.

To be fair, unlike the rest, this one had to be written practically from scratch. My plans have changed a bit, but I should be able to at least adapt the rest.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 12: Let's All Go To The Hospital Again

* * *

"Mistress, we have to go to the hospital, today. You should have had a check up yesterday," Shamal said, washing her hands off the remains of breakfast and drying them with a nearby rag. She gave a nod of thanks to Signum, who had finished with the dishes just a second ago, and removed her apron, tossing it carelessly into the table. It landed on top of the one Naruto had been wearing minutes earlier. Both were clean, as too much experience doing so prevented either Shamal or Naruto from getting anything other than their hands dirty.

"I should have?" Naruto asked. "I didn't know that."

"No, you didn't," Shamal agreed, "but it's important that you do."

"But we have guests, I can't just up and leave," Naruto said, tilting her head. "I already fell asleep on them last night, this'd be a new low as their host-"

"Don't worry," Signum interrupted. "Myself and Zafira will remain here, we will... entertain your guests," she mentioned, picking up both aprons and folding them before moving over to the table.

Naruto shrugged. "I guess that's okay," she said. "Okay, I'll tell Nanoha-chan and Fate-chan... Should I change?" she asked, looking down on herself. She wasn't wearing anything particularly unsuited to a visit to the hospital. Other than her fuzzy slippers, anyway.

"A pair of shoes might be better suited," Shamal agreed, "but if you wish, I could carry you there. Flying there is faster than walking," she said.

"Oh! That's right, I don't need you guys to carry me anymore, I can fly now!"

"... Excuse me, mistress?" Shamal asked. "What... did you just say?"

"I can fly now!" Naruto said, grinning. "I woke up and... I just could. Like this... Sleipnir," she muttered, and six wings sprouted from behind her back. The wings did a very slow beating motion and Naruto lifted off the ground, floating there in front of everyone. "See?"

"... This is strange," Shamal said. "Mistress... By any chance, do you remember a giant tanuki made of sand?"

"What a bizzarre thing you came up with," Naruto said, laughing a little. "Why would I dream about such a thing?" she asked. "That's ridiculous."

"Your brain works in mysterious ways, mistress, but the medical checkup just became a lot more important..."

"You know, now that I got a better look at it, that does look incredibly cool," Nanoha spoke, standing up from her chair. "Anyway, don't worry, we'll be waiting for you here! We still haven't decided who's the best at Street Ninja IV!"

"You better not leave until I can win back my title!" Naruto said, pointing a finger at Nanoha from above.

"It's best if we get to the hospital as early as possible," Shamal said.

"We'll fly there!" Naruto said, grinning. "I'll race you two," she added.

"That isn't a very good idea, mistress," Shamal chastised. "You're new to flying... and until you can show me that you can fly at high speeds without risk, you won't be flying any faster than you can react to!"

Naruto pouted. "But I want to see how fast I can fly..." she muttered.

"We can test that later, Mistress, for now, let's try not to overshoot the hospital," Shamal said. "Anyway, Vita, you will be coming with us."

"Of course I will," Vita said, shaking her head as she tried to wake herself up fully. "Lead the way, mistress..."

* * *

Vita was red when they finally got to the hospital. That was the end result of flying behind Naruto. The reason why was simple. Naruto had apparently forgotten she was wearing a skirt. While they were too high up for anyone to get a peek at Naruto's underwear, Vita was not far away enough not to. That, coupled with the mental images that still haunted her from that morning... Well, she was going to be having interesting dreams soon enough.

Naruto, too, was flushed, but that had more to do with her actually testing the limits of her flying agility, making all sorts of pirouettes as she flew. It was clear she was loving every second she was in the air. Both of her knights present could very well understand why she was enjoying the freedom of the air after being unable to even run for more than a couple of seconds.

Shamal wondered if this was actually the result of the surgery she'd undergone. Naruto had always been weak, but that had never been natural. Her chakra coils had been damaged. That in and of itself should've been fatal. Perhaps... The book had been the one to do that to Naruto in the first place. Perhaps it'd attempted to repair it, causing the damage to her actual body? It wouldn't be entirely impossible. The book had no idea how chakra coils worked until it started absorbing Linker Cores from ninja...

It had nearly killed her attempting to repair her body a short while ago...

"Oi. Shamal, we're here," Vita's voice cut through her thoughts, and she looked up to see Naruto diving downwards.

Almost frantically, the two knights shot like bullets after her, only for their mistress to pretty much kill her momentum just before she hit the ground, landing perfectly safely. The Wolkenritter had barely enough time to land normally themselves, perhaps a bit harsher than they'd intended to, and catch their breath as Naruto giggled. The hospital roof wasn't particularly crowded on a particularly busy day, so there was no risk of landing on anyone.

"Mistress! Stop doing those sorts of things, you're gonna kill us from a heart attack!" Shamal protested, grabbing her chest and attempting to calm down her heart.

"But I knew nothing would go wrong..." Naruto muttered, clearly somewhat down. "I'll be okay!"

"It doesn't matter! We don't know, and you're scaring US!" Vita said, stomping her foot. It only caused Naruto to giggle further, though.

"Let's... let's just go in," Shamal said, massaging the bridge of her nose. "I'll see if I can find Tsunade-dono."

* * *

"Where the hell were you, you brat!?" Tsunade shouted, tossing a paperweight across her temporary office, which was formerly the hospital director's, only for it to be blocked by Vita.

"If you attack her again old hag I will smear your face on a wall," Vita responded, growling.

Tsunade just waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah, whenever you want, I can take you," she said. "Look, let's just get this over with. We have to see how the brat's body is accepting the newly remade coils and check up on her body. If she's anything like I expect her to be, she should be fully healthy by this point, though I have no idea what her coils should look like."

"Actually, I have some things to talk to you in private about," Shamal said. "Give us a minute, mistress?"

Naruto shrugged. "Sure! I'll go see if there's anything decent on the vending machines. Come on, Vita! Onwards, for candy!"

Shaking her head, Vita followed. Despite her exasperation, Shamal could see the small smile on Vita's face present at the return of the everyday life of the Wolkenritter. It made her smile, herself, as she watched the two leave.

"So you don't want the brat to hear about it, huh?" Tsunade asked. "What's the damage, then?"

* * *

"Everything tastes of the sea!" Naruto protested.

"Apparently some joker thought it'd be funny to replace the sugar with salt," Vita said, frowning. Internally, of course, the faces that Naruto made as she ate the super salty candy were hilarious, but Vita couldn't say it and not expect Naruto's already short mood to change to 'pissed off'.

"Heh. That's funny," the old hag said. "Anyway, I'm sure somebody will take care of it shortly. Anyway, brat, let's get you to a table."

They did exactly that, commandeering an empty room to put Naruto in as she went about her checkup. Konoha Hospital was mildly understaffed, for the current situation, but it would soon normalize. Fortunately, the hospital was actually a rather huge complex, with several underground floors. After all, it'd be idiotic to build up in a ninja village, where the enemy targetting the wounded to make more wounded was expected. "It's cold," Naruto said... "when did you undress me?"

"I've... gotten used to doing that," Shamal admitted, shaking her head. "Anyway, mistress, please lay back and try to remain still."

Naruto did exactly that, and Tsunade and Shamal's hands both began glowing different shades of green as they set about working.

* * *

"Most of what we got out of her body doesn't really mesh with what I know about ninja bodies," Tsunade said, cracking her neck. "Don't know exactly how we should proceed. She's healthy as she can be, but I don't know if the readings of the mana in her muscles are okay or not."

"These are definitely not normal," Shamal said, "not for humans, at the very least. It's closer to what we experience as magical constructs, but that doesn't make any sense... unless... Does the chakra system irrigate the muscles?"

"Not normally," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "But ninja can train themselves to reinforce their bodies with chakra, and if they train hard enough, it becomes instinctive. I actually studied that the most, it's how I developed my super strength. With tightly controlled bursts of chakra, I can increase my physical strength incredibly. I've been doing it so long that it's pretty much passive at this point and happens automatically," she explained.

"Maybe this is something similar?" Shamal wondered. "But she hasn't trained to be able to do it..."

"Not her. But that thing she's connected to... could it be doing it automatically? If what you told me is right, it automatically tries to fix defects and strengthen its master... maybe now that it actually understands her biology a little, it's doing a better job of doing that?" Tsunade asked.

"I... wouldn't know, to be honest. I'm going in as blindly as you are... The only thing that comes close is how our construct bodies work, and even then-"

"Actually, how about using one of you for comparison?" Tsunade asked. "If I'm right, then she's probably a lot closer in biology to you than she is to pretty much any other human being," she added.

"I suppose that would make sense," Shamal replied, shaking her head. "At the very least, we can check."

"It's a good thing you brought a bodyguard along, then. Let me call up a genin team to make sure nobody disturbs Naruto while we're working."

"Yes, the last thing we want is to leave her unguarded for more than a few minutes," Shamal agreed. "Mistress... isn't the kind to stay still for long, now that she can move freely."

* * *

Mere minutes later, a team had been called. "Why those three?" Tsunade asked.

"When they don't have missions or training, they're usually hanging around here, since Sakura works here on her free time, so they're close by," Shamal explained. "That, and they're already friends with Naruto-chan, so to her it'll just look like they're hanging out with her instead of guarding and distracting her."

Vita nodded. "Let's get this over with as quickly as possible. I won't leave her under just the watch of some genin."

* * *

"Well, we're basically here to prevent anyone from disturbing her while she rests," Kiba said, "but why are we standing outside her room again?"

Sasuke shrugged. "They're talking about girl things," he guessed. "That, and Naruto was wearing only a flimsy hospital gown."

"So?" Kiba asked.

Feeling somewhat annoyed, Sasuke sighed. "She's a civilian. Unlike Sakura, she does, in fact, mind nudity."

"But Sakura punched me the one time I saw her without a shirt on," Kiba said, frowning. "Maybe we were the only ones that received training to not let it bother us? Kunoichi seem to be pretty self conscious..."

"No, they did. They definitely did," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "Anko-sensei was the one to give them those classes," he added.

"How do you even know that?" Kiba asked.

"She told me. Incidentally, Anko-sensei's are C cups," Sasuke said, grinning smugly.

"You smug bastard," Kiba growled.

"Just ask her, idiot," Sasuke said, looking amused. "We're talking about Anko-sensei here, not some immature kunoichi wannabe who thinks boys are all perverts."

"No, we're talking about an adult with big breasts who knows EVERYONE is a pervert," someone interrupted.

"Anko-sensei!" Kiba said, standing ramrod straight.

"Anyway, what are we talking about?" Anko asked.

"Uh... sensei, is it true that you showed Sasuke your breasts?" Kiba asked. "I mean-"

"Yeah, it is," Anko said. "What, don't tell me... You also haven't seen an actual woman naked? Kids, by the time I was your age, I already wasn't a virgin," Anko said, rolling her eyes. "I guess times change when it's not just after war, though," she admitted, stroking her chin. "Anyway, I'm just checking up on you to make sure you're working hard. And by that, I mean metaphorically, not working with an erection," she added.

"Sensei... do you know anything about Naruto's health?" Sasuke asked, frowning. "I haven't heard anything, and she seems to be acting healthy, but if she's in the hospital now..."

"As far as I know, there's nothing to be worried about, but Tsunade-sama and Shamal-sensei seem to be running all sorts of tests. Maybe they see something wrong the rest of us don't, it's possible. Kid was impaled, so she's probably messed up but good," Anko said, shrugging. "Eh, I'm sure she'll pull through."

The two genin nodded in understanding.

"Anyway, kiddies, I gotta go. Since I'm here, I've got to restock on hallucinogens for your training," she said, waving as she left down the hallway. A few minutes passed in silence, while both genin tried to come up with something to say.

Sasuke looked somewhat conflicted.

"What's wrong, dude?" Kiba asked, absent mindedly sitting down next to the door and petting Akamaru, who was still sitting in what appeared to be an alert and ready position. Now that Anko had come and gone they'd get to relax.

Sasuke, however, clearly didn't relax at all. The Uchiha merely shook his head. "I was there," he said, tone bland.

"There? Where?" Kiba asked, confused. What could the broodmaster be talking about?

"I was there when she got hurt. I could have saved her. I was right there, and all I had to do was grab her. I would've been hurt... but I'm a ninja. I can take it. I... didn't. I just stood there, frozen. I was terrified, and I couldn't even move!" Sasuke said, growling as he clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palm. "Her knights... Signum saved me from Orochimaru, when he came for me in the forest, and I can't even return the favor... I thought I was improving, but I'm still so weak..!" he whispered, mostly to himself, but loud enough to be heard in the silent hospital ward.

"Tell me about it. Naruto-chan's so cute and nice to me... I feel like I should protect her, you know? She's always so nice to us, and when she needed us, we couldn't do anything for her. We could barely even keep the ninja off of Shamal-sensei long enough for Naruto's life to be saved," Kiba looked down, where Akamaru stood. "I feel like I'm a failure, you know. When I saw here there... It's the first time I've seen her when she's not smiling and... it hurts. It hurts to know I can't do anything about it, man."

Sasuke shook his head. "But you weren't there. You couldn't have done anything. I could have. I could have prevented this entirely!" Sasuke said, smashing his hand against his thigh, wincing as he felt the harsh pain wash over him like a sobering cold drink. "What kind of ninja am I, when I can't even protect a single civilian!? How can I expect to have the power to defeat that man and bring my clan back like this!?"

Kiba put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Man, I know I don't usually say this but... you're my friend, okay? We've been through a lot of shit together. I respect you, and I know that even if you deny it, you respect me and even Sakura. We've been through too much not to. It's okay to be scared sometimes. From what I hear, that thing was one of the tailed beasts. Mom told me that you have to be an S rank shinobi to even consider going up against the weakest of them. It's normal to be scared shitless of them," Kiba said.

Sasuke moved his shoulder and knocked Kiba's hand off. "I'll get stronger. I will have enough power..."

Kiba punched his arm. "Stop being such an ass. Anko-sensei put it best, didn't she? You can't do this shit alone. We're your friends, man, we'll help you."

Akamaru barked, walking up to Sasuke.

"You too, huh?" Sasuke asked, bending down to pet Akamaru.

"That's the spirit! You know I'm an Inuzuka, man, if there's one thing we know how to do, it's how to work together! We'll make a proper teammate out of you!"

The Uchiha shook his head. "We'll see if you can keep up, you mutt," Sasuke said, chuckling as he petted Akamaru.

"Hey, I'll have you know that Akamaru is a purebred-"

"I was talking about you," Sasuke said, offering Kiba a smirk.

"Of all the times, to discover your sense of humor," Kiba grumbled.

"Excuse me, is this Uzumaki Naruto's room?" a rather soft, calm voice interrupted, causing Kiba and Sasuke to cut off their banter prematurely, both turning to address the intruder. A tall, slim boy with silver hair, an unassuming demeanor and glasses. All in all, a non threatening looking individual. Which in the ninja world, meant he was probably a badass. Badass enough to get through the Chunin Exams, at least.

"Who are you?" Kiba instantly asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Oh, my name's Yakushi Kabuto. I'm the son of the Hospital Director, Yakushi Kentaro," the boy explained. "I've got a message for Naruto-san. And it is for her ears only," he added when the two began to protest. "Everything about her physical health at this point is top secret, I've heard," he added. "Father didn't even trust me with it, he gave me a letter for her instead."

"We can deliver it instead," Sasuke said, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, we won't peek. I promise. Anko-sensei would electrocute our privates if we did," Kiba said. "And she'd learn..."

"Mitarashi Anko? I know of her. I hear she used to be a torturer," Kabuto said, shivering a little. "Here, have it. I guess it's alright. If you read it, though, it's on your heads."

"We won't," they both said, nodding.

"Okay, here you go," Kabuto said, digging into his chunin vest's pockets and pulling out an envelope that had been folded in half. He handed it to Sasuke and smiled pleasantly. "Now, I've handed it over, my responsibility is over. See you later, guys," he said, turning around and walking away, waving as he did.

They both said their own goodbyes and sighed. "Well, which of us is going to go in? Either way, Sakura's gonna shriek," Kiba said.

"You go," Sasuke said. "You're expendable."

"Yeah, well, my ears are more sensitive. So you should go," Kiba replied.

"We're in the hospital, they can fix whatever damage she does to you," Sasuke said.

"She used to crush on you, I'm sure you can get by on that," Kiba countered.

"Egh, whatever, fine, I'll go," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "Coward."

Kiba grinned. "Pleasure knowing you."

Grumbling, Sasuke banged his knuckles on the door. There was no response for a few seconds. "Come in," Sakura's voice called.

Opening the door, Sasuke took a deep breath and walked in, closing it behind himself. "Some guy came in and dropped a letter for you, Naruto," Sasuke explained, evenly.

"Really?" Naruto asked. "Who could it be?"

"Maybe you have a secret admirer?" Sakura asked. "I know lots of guys who could be responsible..." she muttered.

"Doubt it. It was dropped here by a chunin, so it's probably important. It's for your eyes only, so maybe you shouldn't read it just now," Sasuke said, handing the letter over to Naruto. "Do it when you're alone at home or something."

Naruto shrugged. "I'll give it to Signum later. She handles all the important stuff like this."

"Whatever you do, I delivered it," Sasuke said.

"By the way, Sasuke, I really do need you to answer a few questions... Sakura was trying to explain some stuff to me, but really, having a live example will be so much better. Can you remove your shirt for a moment?" Naruto asked.

"What... what the hell were you talking about?" Sasuke asked, turning to Sakura, who blushed fiercely.

"Sakura was insisting that you're the epitome of handsome despite being a jerk," Naruto explained, waving her hand. "And I still don't know what 'epitome' means, but-"

"Most basic way I can put it, it means the 'most'. So in this case, Sakura's saying I'm the most handsome which is, naturally, true," Sasuke explained, nodding his head.

"But you're so scrawny! And pale! And tiny!" Naruto said. "So I thought, maybe she's seen some part of him that I didn't? So, strip, show me your body," she said.

"The fuck," Sakura nearly yelled.

"That is highly illegal because you're a minor and I'm an adult," Sasuke said, evenly.

"We're the same age," Naruto said, pouting.

"But I have a headband and that makes me an adult," Sasuke said, "and seriously, I could actually be heavily reprimanded for that."

Well, that, and Sasuke was certain there were four people who would be looking to smear him against a wall if they saw him naked in front of Naruto.

"Aww, come on! I want to see what she sees in you," she said.

"No! Just... just no!"

Naruto pouted. "Pretty please?" she asked.

"... dammit."

* * *

Tsunade sighed. "Well, I've confirmed a few things, at least," she began, leaning back on her chair as she perused the results of the test they'd just made. "All that remains is performing a blood test, and that, I'm gonna leave on you. Everything else will take a couple of days to finalize, for a full comparation between your bodies and hers."

"If you don't mind me asking, what sort of thing did you confirm?" Shamal asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Your bodies... aren't all that dissimilar from something we ninja know as a Shadow Clone," Tsunade explained, yawning, clearly ignoring how terribly rude it is to yawn in someone else's face.

Nevertheless, Shamal persevered. "And that is..?"

"A Shadow Clone is basically a copy of a person made with chakra. No actual shadows involved. It basically makes a shell and stuffs it with chakra. In your case, you're basically a shell in the shape of your bodies animated by a big lump of mana located on your chests. That'd be your Linker Core, right?" Tsunade asked, looking at Vita's chest, as the redhead discarded the flimsy gown she'd been wearing and began re-dressing in the clothes she'd originally wore coming in.

"That'd make sense. We're magical constructs, after all," Shamal stated.

"But shadow clones are flimsy," Tsunade noted, "so much so that they can be dispelled by the slightest cut. By contrast, your bodies are much, much tougher. Your bodies also seem to be fully functioning. Clones don't so much get physically tired as their chakra runs out... So all in all, you appear to be a much more advanced and complete form of said jutsu."

"You ninja have all sorts of ways to form clones," Vita muttered. "I've seen water, earth and even fire once."

"Fire? That's rare," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "Anyway, what I've also confirmed is that your muscles and hers are somewhat similar. It's more like... Naruto's body is not unlike a normal human body that has a magical construct like your body overlaid on top of it," she explained.

"Huh? How is that even possible?" Vita asked.

"Her Chakra Coils conduct mana now," Shamal stated, rubbing her chin. "Which would irrigate her system with mana."

"That's a theory," Tsunade stated. "Personally, I have no idea. All that's left are more invasive tests," she said, "you don't need me for that. So, I'll be leaving now."

"You're going to be travelling again?" Shamal asked.

"Yeah. You're more than competent enough to look after her and you know just as much about her body as I do, probably more," Tsunade said, "if you do need me, though, you can probably find me. I'm sure the old man will be keeping tabs on me."

* * *

Meanwhile, in Naruto's hospital room...

"How did you convince me to do this?" Kiba asked, glaring at Naruto and Sakura, before turning to look at Sasuke.

"I didn't, you convinced yourself, because you are an idiot," Sasuke replied.

In front of the two boys were two girls, namely, Naruto and Sakura. Both were seated on the room's desk, eyeing the two boys like they were slabs of meat at a market, and while Sakura looked pretty satisfied eyeing Sasuke, Naruto seemed to be looking at both and pouting as if she didn't find what she wanted.

Of course, this'd be less weird if Kiba and Sasuke were wearing more than just their underwear. Now, since ninja have not heard of the invention of the jockstrap, instead of wearing boxer shorts, they tend to wear more... form fitting underwear. It's bad to have them bits dangling, you know, so they instead use underwear that actually holds it in place.

Meaning, they were wearing briefs, not boxers.

"I still don't see what you see... they look the same to me," Naruto said.

"Hey, don't lump me in the same category as this scrawny and pasty little girl," Kiba said, looking at Sasuke and frowning at his svelte body. Kiba was, by comparison, shaping up to have a much more noticeable musculature.

"Oh, yes, because being a musclebound behemoth is so conductive to moving quickly and nimbly," Sasuke sniped, raising an eyebrow. "And all those muscles don't mean shit next to chakra reinforcement," he added.

"You can reinforce yourself with chakra all you like, dipshit, because when you've torn out all your muscles from forcing them too much, I can still go," Kiba countered, grinning nastily.

"You're both scrawny," Naruto said, glaring at the two of them. "Maybe you should put on a few pounds of muscle..?"

"That's enough of that," Kiba said.

"Yes, I'm getting dressed," Sasuke said, his tone brooking no argument.

"But I still haven't seen what Sakura sees!" Naruto protested.

"And I don't think you will, I thought you'd already gone through puberty, with that pair of tits on you," Sakura muttered, "but you clearly haven't," she added.

"Tell you what, I'll let you gaze upon my manly and beautiful physique a little more, if you, I dunno," Kiba said, scratching the top of his head. He didn't know what to ask for, it had to be something outrageous so that she'd refuse, but not something so stupid that she would ask him to be serious. "I know, if you get naked, too," he added.

Naruto tilted her head. "That's it? Okay, I guess," Naruto said, shrugging. She reached behind herself and undid the knot holding her gown together, letting it fall in front of her, though it bunched up on top of her lap, as she was sitting. Dropping from the desk allowed the rest of the gown to slip off and for it to fall to the ground. She grabbed at her chest, holding her developing breasts.

"Wow, unlike Sakura, she actually has a reason to wear a bra," Kiba said.

"Why you..!" Sakura's hand clenched into a fist. For a moment, she wished she was in a clichéd scene in a manga or anime; if she was, she'd have gained super strength and the ability to beat up Kiba. Unfortunately, she did not have the ability nor raw strength to beat Kiba in one on one combat. And Kiba wouldn't let her beat him up. After all, he hadn't even insulted her, and in his mind, his comment probably didn't even register as hurtful. He'd be fully within his rights to defend himself, and Sakura would actually be reprimanded instead, as she'd be the aggressor.

Really, why did cold and hard logic have to get in the way of comedy gags?

"Kiba you idiot, this could get you arrested," Sasuke said, bringing his palm to his face.

"I didn't think she'd go and do it," Kiba countered. "Besides, what's so wrong about it? I've seen swimsuits cover less on adult women. Hell, I've seen thongs on men," Kiba said, waving his hands as if throwing Sasuke's concerns away. He then took a step towards Naruto, raising his hand as if to clap her on the back...

... but he stepped on a bit of the discarded gown, which caused him to slip forward. He tried to grab a handhold or something, but all that he found was Naruto's shoulder, his initial target, so he dragged her down with himself.

He blushed bright red as soon as he managed to stop his motion, as he'd landed right on top of Naruto.

"You're heavy," Naruto said, idly.

"... You have two seconds to explain why I shouldn't spread your guts on the sidewalk," a calm, collected and cold voice spoke, sending chills down Kiba's spine.

Fortunately for Sakura, it seemed like Kiba had attracted the attention of a superior officer, who'd seen him sexually harass a civilian, and who had the ability to make him regret it.

"Time's up."

"Oh sweet merciful gods-"

* * *

... This chapter should've been completed like, an hour ago. If hadn't eaten my input when it logged me off.

Why the fuck does it log you off in the first place? I don't want to be logged off, that's why I choose the option not to be logged off. It's stoopid, and it caused me to lose half the friggin' chapter. I guess this is what I get for starting from a six-hundred-word-long fragment of the document containing the rest of the story and build on that using the Edit Document feature.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 13: Let Us Go On A Mission

* * *

"We're home, everyone!"

"Welcome home," Signum called, nodding.

Zafira waved, as well. But then he blinked.

Naruto looked just the same as always, but Shamal seemed amused and Vita was flushed, almost like she was... embarrassed about something. What could it possibly be..? "Did something happen?" he asked, somewhat expectant.

"Vita-chan beat up Kiba-kun for no reason, so she's being punished," Naruto said, nodding.

"Do I want to know?" Zafira asked.

"Trust me, you don't," Shamal said, shaking her head but also making a hand gesture. It was a simple message. I'll tell you later.

Zafira shrugged. "If you say so."

"Where are our guests? I'd imagined you two would be keeping an eye on them..."

"Currently in the bath," Signum said, "and while we are keeping an eye on them, they're trustworthy enough that-"

"Oh, that's great! I was supposed to get one, too!" Naruto said. "I'm all sweaty and I've got hospital smell on me," she added, nodding sagely.

"Mistress, you can't crash someone else's bath, that's private," Shamal chastised.

"But I do it with you guys all the time," Naruto reasoned. "Besides, it's boring to take a bath alone," she added.

"We're a special case, mistress, the same rules that apply to us don't apply to everyone else," Zafira said, shaking his head. "You can do whatever you want with us, but others might be offended if you were to, say, interrupt them in the bath."

"So I'm gonna have to wait?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. "That sucks. I really want to get rid of the hospital smell from my hair. Okay, then, Vita-chan you'll come with me. You smell horrible too," she said. "Actually, all of you do. When's the last time you all washed yourselves?"

"We have been... busy, this past week," Shamal admitted, evenly.

"... Okay, this is a hyg... hyd..."

"Hygienic," Signum supplied.

"Yes, right, cleanliness," Naruto said, waving her hand, "emergency!"

"Naruto-chan, you're home again," Nanoha's voice came by, as both she and Fate wandered into the main hall, both with their hair looking somewhat wet, clearly noting that they had just come out of the bath. They were both wearing some of Naruto's clothes, clearly the only clothes in their size in the house, as Vita was a tad too small for her clothes to fit them. "How did the hospital visit go?"

"I dunno, they didn't tell me anything," Naruto said, shrugging.

"Isn't that... bad?" Fate asked, tilting her head.

"Eh, even if they told me everything, I'd probably forget immediately after. It's not like I care that much, after all... healthy, sick, it doesn't make a difference," Naruto said, smiling.

"The majority of her studies need to go to the lab for further analysis, but if it makes you feel better, for the most part she's never been healthier than she is nowadays," Shamal said, smiling at the two outsiders.

"Speaking about health, you all! Bath, now!" Naruto said, gesturing widely with her arms, as if to call all of them at once. "Don't make me say it twice," she added.

"Yes, mistress," the Wolkenritter chorused, and they all got up from their seats, even though Shamal and Vita had just managed to sit down.

"I'm really sorry I can't stay and chat, but I smell like a hospital," Naruto said. "Even though I only spent a few hours there. I smell like I'd been there a week!" she said, shaking her head. "But you've got the house all to yourselves for... an hour or two."

"Your furo is pretty big, but," Nanoha began, looking somewhat confused, "I don't think it would fit five people..."

"We actually have more than one bathroom. Manor, remember? The guest rooms' is a bit smaller. The one on the second floor is a great deal bigger," Naruto said, shaking her head. "It seems like whoever owned this house before me had a very big family," Naruto explained.

"This was once a clan compound," Signum corrected, "and as such, it is designed to be able to house a small clan, rather than a single family. The left wing is identical to the right wing, and possesses its own kitchen facilities," she added.

"Your house's really big... you must be very rich," Fate said, somewhat impressed.

"We get by," Naruto said, shrugging. "Anyway, like I said, we'll be back in, like, an hour."

The Wolkenritter and Naruto left, headed upstairs to the bigger bathroom.

"Nanoha... why are all of our non-bureau friends rich?" Fate asked, looking somewhat confused.

"I don't even go out looking for them... it just happens," Nanoha said, shrugging.

* * *

After the Wolkenritter, Nanoha, Fate and Naruto had gotten used to what amounted to a different routine for their every day life, the TSAB had finally gotten their crap together and had sent out an envoy, composed of exactly three people.

Admiral Harlaown, Jiraiya of Konoha and one Yuuno Scrya.

"Just a question. Why aren't Arf and Chrono coming?" Fate asked, somewhat confused.

"One of them is your familiar and the other your brother," Lindy explained. "While I'm necessary as I am the highest ranking officer, Chrono and Arf were judged too deeply connected to the situation. My experience was judged as enough to be able to put aside my personal feelings," she said, shaking her head, "it's unimportant, they're observing the conversation as we speak."

"Very well. I should warn you to come unarmed. They really don't react well to that," Nanoha said, shaking her head, chuckling a little. "And we could've avoided so many problems..."

"Speaking about being armed... Raising Heart and Bardiche are insisting on a certain set of modifications to be made to them. It appears that they managed to analyze the Belkan devices, and are using them as the basis for a modification to make them both sturdier and more powerful. We have to order some of the parts, but we can get them from a few supply ships that should be close by," Lindy informed. "I thought I'd run it by you."

"We should probably ask Signum and the others... after all we'd be copying their devices to make ours stronger," Fate asked, frowning a little.

Nanoha nodded. "Just copying them without asking doesn't seem right."

"Very well, that is up to you," Lindy said, shaking her head. "However, the sooner you ask-"

"They said it's okay," Nanoha interrupted, then both Fate and Lindy seemed a bit taken aback. "What? Telepathy, remember?" she asked. "Anyway, they say it's okay. More than that, they're looking forward to fighting us with our devices at an equal level."

"All of them?" Fate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just Signum and Vita," Nanoha corrected. "Vita seemed... distracted, though, and everyone kept giggling for some reason."

Lindy blushed a little, before shaking her head, almost as if trying to shake the blush off her face. "Very well, then, I shall tell the engineers to begin with the modifications. If the parts get here on schedule, your devices will be ready in three days. If so, then we'll hit two targets with one spell and deliver your devices when we're coming around to try the diplomtic route."

"Sounds great. I can't wait to hold Raising Heart again," Nanoha said, smiling.

Fate nodded. "They have endured a lot for us, and to want to improve..."

"Few intelligent devices develop such bonds with their masters," Lindy commented. "You two really are very lucky, in that regard."

"Yes, we are," Nanoha said.

"Very well, then, I'll be contacting you soon. Until then, please rest and relax, right now, your situation is no different from having paid leave," Lindy commented.

"I'm almost sad we'll have to get back to school soon..." Nanoha commented, dryly.

* * *

After their chat was complete, Nanoha and Fate simply set about doing some of the household chores. While they were far from obliged to do it, both of them considered it the least they could do considering how much more luxurious the accomodations of their current host were compared to what they'd had at the hotel, and the fact that they were being fed out of Naruto's pocket, as well.

There didn't seem to be a staff of maids, unlike Alisa or Suzuka's houses.

It actually made Nanoha wonder if the Wolkenritter doubled as servants as well as knights. Signum on a maid costume was already quite shaking on their image of the knights, but the idea of all of them wearing such clothing was plain hilarious. It actually made both of them lift their spirits, knowing that despite their image as bloodthirsty knights hell bent on filling the book, they could still be a... somewhat normal family... okay, they were a pretty weird family, but they were happy, and that was what was important, right?

Eventually, the Wolkenritter came out of the bath. For some reason, all four of them were extremely flushed and looking down on the ground. When prompted, all they said was that they'd never talk about that again, and Naruto was pouting because they'd made her promise never to talk about what had happened there. A bummer, really, since anything that left the knights THAT embarrassed had to be truly hilarious.

What came next, however, was kind of a shocker. "We've got work," Vita said. It was something they hadn't really considered.

Intellectually, Nanoha and Fate somewhat knew that the Wolkenritter collaborated with Konoha, but the idea of beings like the Wolkenritter actually doing something as mundane as holding a job... Well, it was somewhat jarring considering that they were, well, computer programs given flesh.

"We're... bounty hunters, of a sort," well, that made a lot more sense. "We hunt down people with Linker Cores, but since doing that would be problematic, what we do is hunt down criminals and absorb their Linker Cores. Technically, we are acting fully within the law of this planet."

Nanoha nodded. "By the TSAB's directives, nothing you have done... in this incarnation at least... is a crime. However, I have to ask you to hold off on collecting pages... at least until we can present our evidence. I can promise you that if you can prove that we're wrong, I will give you guys my linker core of my own free will."

"Mine, as well," Fate said. "But until then..."

"There is no pressing need to complete the book as of this moment," Signum said, her eyes closed. "I can't believe I'm trusting you..."

"Nanoha and Fate wouldn't lie like that, they're not that kind of people," Naruto said, finally. "Besides, I told you. They're friends now, and friends don't betray each other! Friends who betray each other aren't even friends," Naruto said, shaking her head.

"Nonetheless, I still feel... wary," Signum said. "Regardless, I have training today, and I have already been skimping on it as is..."

"As do I," Shamal said, nodding. "I will also spend some time at the hospital, there are some things I need to speak about with the lab staff, and some patients I have to check up on."

"Gai-san has been... insistent on challenging me lately. I fear that if I don't respond to his challenges, he may explode," Zafira noted, frowning.

"I'm free," Vita said, "I'll go," she said, shrugging.

"I'm going with you," Naruto said, pointing at Vita. "I want to see how you guys fight!"

"...What?" Vita asked, "no, mistress, my work is dangerou-"

"I can fly now," Naruto said, waving her hand. "I can just fly and observe from above! I'll be totally out of danger!"

"But... It's violent, and I might need to kill whoever's my target-" Vita protested.

Nanoha and Fate wondered if she was simply trying to keep her mistress away from combat, or if she genuinelly planned on killing whatever criminal she happened upon. Both looked slightly green at the idea of killing a human being.

Zafira put a hand on Nanoha and Fate's shoulders, causing them to turn around. "Most criminals are worth more alive than dead. Our magic has a non-lethal setting, it's very easy to capture them alive so we only kill particularly... bad criminals," he explained. "Mistress frowns upon killing in general."

"It doesn't matter. I... want to make sure you're safe, Vita," Naruto said, placing her hands on Vita's shoulders. "Just... just this once, okay?"

Vita sighed. "Okay, mistress..."

"Fate-san... would you like to accompany me in training?" Signum asked, turning to Fate. "You have much talent, but training could do you a world of good. I take it you can't find very many close quarters combat instructors in the TSAB, am I right?"

"It's... a bit more rare than long and mid range magic training," Fate agreed.

"The Belkan style focuses a lot more on close combat. This world has mastered the art, as well," Signum said, closing her eyes. "This is not the kind of opportunity that comes very often."

"Yes, you are right. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to accompany you," Fate said, smiling. "I've seen a few ninja training, but I don't think it compares to real training..."

"You saw those at the commercial district, right? It's common to see people showing off, there, but they can't really show their real ability," Signum said, evenly.

"Then Fate-chan will be going out... I'm gonna be left all alone," Nanoha said, pouting herself.

"Not really, you're free to do whatever you wish. I extended an invitation, but you may come, as well," Signum said, evenly. "You are focused on artillery, however, and that is quite a bit harder to come across in this planet. Most people here are focused on melee combat."

"Training up your ability to fight in melee wouldn't hurt," Vita commented. "The only reason you lasted as long as you did with me was because I wasn't trying to kill you. Just knock you out," she explained, shaking her head. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, but you need to train to be good enough in melee that you can at least defend yourself."

"Wait, wait, I know a guy who fights with a staff! He's kinda old, but he knows his stuff pretty well! I'm sure he'll help you if I ask him to!" Naruto said, "he can teach you how to fight!"

"You would do that for me?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head. Asking a favor like that in a warrior culture couldn't be such a little deal.

"You're my friend, right?" Naruto asked in return, looking confused. "Why wouldn't I do that? Besides, the old man is always complaining that none of his sons or his grandson ever take up the staff, so..."

"Thank you!" Nanoha said, bowing at Naruto. "To be honest, I felt pretty bad after the beating Vita-chan gave me. I was totally helpless in melee, so-"

"Don't worry, I'm sure the old guy can help you! And he's on the way to the mission office, so you can come with me and Vita-chan while we go pick up a mission!"

"But, I don't pick up missions, mistress, I-" Vita protested.

"Well you're gonna do a mission now," Naruto said. "Actually, Nanoha-chan, would you like to come on a mission with us? It could be fun! We could feel like real ninja!" Naruto said, giggling.

"That sounds really fun!" Nanoha admitted. "Okay, I'm in!"

Vita groaned. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"Very well, then, our plans for the day are finalized," Signum said.

* * *

"Hiya, old man!" Naruto yelled, kicking the door to the Hokage's office open.

Nanoha was mortified. Intelligence said that this man was the leader of the village, and a man known across the world either as The Professor, for his vast accumulated knowledge... or the God of Shinobi, for striking such fear into the hearts of his enemies as to make them believe he was a god in the flesh.

"Hello, Naruto. I'm glad to see you as exuberant as always," the Hokage said, smiling warmly at the entering trio. "Vita-san, you're taking a lone mark today? That's rare," he added, seeing Vita. "And... I don't believe I've met this young lady. A friend of yours?"

"Sort of," Vita said.

"She's one of my two new friends! Her name's Nanoha! Nanoha, this is the old guy! He might look like he's really old and weak, but he actually once took on all four of my knights at once!" Naruto said, smiling at the old guy.

The man chuckled. "You exaggerate, I know I would've lost had that battle continued," he said, shaking his head. "You guys are just too fast, and there's only so much my body can take," he said, looking at Vita.

Vita frowned and rubbed at her side, phantom pain reminding her of the time she'd been crashed through a dozen trees. "I wouldn't want to fight him one on one," Vita admitted.

"Anyway, what brings you around here, Naruto-chan? I was actually thinking I'd pay you a visit once my workday was over," the old man said, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"Well, we were gonna ask you to help us! See, Nanoha-chan is a really good mage, but she kinda doesn't really do melee fighting. She uses a staff, so I was wondering if-"

"Say no more, Naruto-chan," he interrupted, waving his hand. "Young lady, if you are willing to undertake the training, I will personally make sure you can use your staff to fight even the greatest of opponents!" he claimed, slamming his hand on the desk and standing up. Then he looked at them for a moment. "I also do spear training, but that's minor," he added.

"Uh... ah... okay?" Nanoha tried, blinking. She was really confused. Her upbringing told her to be really respectful of the authority figure that the Hokage represented. She was basically standing in front of a General. But the atmosphere was totally wrong, and she wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Anyway, now that that's over with," Naruto said, "we're gonna be taking a mission! So see ya, old man-"

"Naruto you're not a ninja, you can't take missions," the Hokage said, frowning.

"Vita's not a ninja either, and she can," Naruto protested, pouting.

"She's a contractor, that's different."

"Well then make me a constructor, too," Naruto said, crossing her arms and huffing. "I can do missions, too!"

"Naruto, you can't even use your-"

"Actually... we don't know exactly why, but she has increased her ability to use magic dramatically. She could potentially learn to fight as she is now," Vita explained.

"She's at least got some spells down... That Bloody Dagger spell looked pretty powerful," Nanoha said, frowning.

"Bloody Dagger, you say..?" the Hokage said. "I... will want to hear more of this."

"You might want to visit the hospital and ask Shamal directly. She's got most of what we know," Vita said.

"And... what about this young girl? Can she fight, as well?" Sarutobi said.

"Not without my device," Nanoha admitted, shaking her head.

"But there aren't only combat missions," the Hokage said, nodding at himself. "Very well. I suppose that a C rank wouldn't be too bad. So long as you're looking after them... I guess it's alright."

Vita sighed. "I am going to regret this, aren't I?"

"We've got a caravan over an out of the way route. It should be just about safe enough..."

* * *

"Go take the caravan guarding mission, he said," Vita moaned, "it should be safe, he said," she added. "How the hell did we get into this mess!?"

'This mess' being the situation she now found herself in. To start with, apparently Naruto and Nanoha thought it was a good idea to tell their clients they weren't even ninja. Which made the clients throw a fit. Then she slapped them down by pointing out that she was a jounin-ranked bounty hunter and that she alone was worth the cost of several teams of genin. That'd made them calm down. The problem is, one of them apparently took offense at Naruto for some reason, probably to do with the fact that Naruto wasn't a ninja and was clearly treating the mission like it was a game.

Of course, Vita did not take kindly to that man, and had made a point to intimidate him into dropping fudge. Only that man turned out to be the caravan's chief. So their stay had been made miserable by the fact that their clients didn't like them. They couldn't just abandon the mission and leave them to fend for themselves, for all their faults they had actually paid the price in full.

Only, of course, things went further south shortly afterwards. What else would happen? Shinobi showed up instead of the highwaymen that Vita had been expecting. Dispatching the ones that jumped her had been pathetically easy. They were a bunch of genin ranked missing ninja worth little more than the clothes they wore on their backs and the weapons they carried. The problem, however, was that they were not the main force. They were merely a distraction.

So when she had planted the last one on the ground with Graf Eisen, she only had long enough to turn when she heard Nanoha's scream to turn around.

The last one... had managed to sneak past her, and was now holding Naruto with her arms pinned behind her back, holding a kunai to her throat. Naruto's eyes were wide open, and she was frozen on the spot. This was a horrible sight Vita never wanted to see... Her mistress terrified to the point she had frozen still.

"Drop the hammer!" the man demanded, tightening his grip on Naruto, "or she'll have a second mouth on her neck!" he added.

"Shit," Vita muttered.

"Stop this," Nanoha pleaded. "You won't get away..."

"We didn't expect a jounin, much less given the three brats present," a voice they all knew spoke, as the caravan leader entered into the scene. "What do you think?"

"Not as big a haul as I'd have wished," the man holding a kunai to Naruto's neck spoke. "Konoha loves their genin, though, so they'll pay a small fortune for these..."

"We're not genin," Nanoha said, "we're not even ninja, or part of Konoha's military at all," she explained, fully calm. Whether it be terrorists or plain criminals, she had actually received training to deal with such situations. One of the first lessons she'd gotten was to remain calm at all times, and to never show the enemy that he has something you want.

"Given the amount of privilege these brats have, they oughta be hella important," the caravan master said, cracking his neck. "It almost makes me sad we gotta give 'em back. I'm sure they'd all grow up to be some right beauties."

"They're like, ten years old now, and I'm not gonna wait that long," the kidnapper said.

"... Don't tell me you're a pedophile because I'll kill you right now," the Caravan master snapped.

"Shit, no, that's one way to get killed real fast. Konoha gets pissed when you kill their genin, but if you rape 'em, they're gonna declare war on your ass," the man said, shaking his head. "If these brats are anywhere near as important as you say, then we'd be pretty much asking for the God of Shinobi to come and smear us on the grass."

"Whatever happens today, you will not walk out of this unharmed. If you put her down right now, you will live," Vita warned, her grip on Graf Eisen tightening.

"Oh, yeah?" the man said, tightening his grip on her arms and touching the knife to the unblemished skin of her neck. "We're gonna walk right out, with this here brat with us. And you, jounin-chan, are going to drop that hammer, and give it to us. We'll treat it nice and good, and if you're lucky, Konoha will pay the ransom and then you'll get them back. That sound good to ya?"

"I've got a better idea. Let her go, I will be your hostage instead," Vita said. "Unlike her, there's a bounty on my head. Ten million Ryo alive, put on by Orochimaru himself," Vita said, her teeth grinding as she tried to reign in her temper.

"No... no... no replacements," Naruto said, weakly, her eyes screwing shut as she seemed to regain some degree of awareness, her terror seemingly passing.

"It's better that way."

"I said no!" Naruto said, with a lot more force. "I... I can take care of this... I won't let it happen again..."

"Huh? The hells you talking about?" the man said, turning to her.

"Never again!" Naruto yelled.

Nanoha could've sworn... at that moment, she saw Naruto's eyes flash red for an instant.

The man lost his grip as the girl in front of him surged with strength. He lunged forward to recapture her, knowing that he would be history if he didn't...

"Pierce through," eight blades of red light appeared in the small space between them at Naruto's shout, and the man took a moment to widen his eyes as they began to move towards him. The combined momentum made the blades sink into his flesh, and their more potent momentum made them carry him off into the air.

The caravan master blinked as he saw Naruto hit the ground, panting and clearly exhausted. And the jounin they'd meant to trick into capture... was now floating behind him.

"Ah... Ah... shit..."

* * *

"We're never, EVER going on a mission again! I'll stick to hunting high rank bounties!" Vita said.

Nanoha sighed weakly. "That was... a lot more intense than I thought it'd be. It's nothing like training," she said, shaking her head. "Naruto-chan, are you alright? You looked pretty bad there..."

"I'm fine!" Naruto chirped. "Anyway, we got here early, but the others should be home already."

"I... think I envy your stomach, Naruto-chan," Nanoha said, given how hers was unsettled after having seen what the Bloody Daggers did to a human body.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Naruto had all the accuracy of a potato, so she hadn't hit anything important and the man had survived. He'd never walk again, but he'd survived. Were she honest, Nanoha wasn't terribly sympathetic. She was more sympathetic of the girl who'd accidentally done the damage in a fit of panic over having her life threatened.

Particularly because Naruto was a civilian being betrayed by a false client who'd apparently set up some sort of ransom racket.

Nanoha surprised herself when she thought about how little sympathy she afforded to the men (and one girl) who'd tried to assault her and her new friends. Maybe it was because of the lethal threat that the man represented, or maybe it was because she thought he got what he deserved for his actions, but ultimately, she couldn't bring herself to feel bad about the man being crippled from the waist down.

She might have thought Fate would find it weird, but when she revealed the sort of man who'd done that, well, she seemed perhaps even less sympathetic, and Chrono had flat out explained to her that it was okay to be unsympathetic to criminals in certain instances, as she made her daily report to the Asura that night. She hadn't detained someone who didn't know better, or who didn't have any other option. The caravan was wealthy enough to be fully stocked, and most of it was clean anyway. The people in on it were all doing it out of greed, not because of necessity.

It was... actually her first brush with someone who was actually legitimately a bad person, and not someone who was good and misguided or doing bad things for reasons that were wholly understandable to her, such as love or desperation. She could say, it was actually her first brush with someone who wasn't crazed in any way, and just plain evil.

And... she was glad she was actually taking the course she was. Joining the TSAB was for the best... and she'd be proud she was putting this sort of scum out of everyone's life.

As they went to sleep, Nanoha asked Fate to hold her through the night. If only because the two blonds were fairly similar, and Nanoha didn't want to think she'd almost lost her newest friend this soon after making it.

* * *

Now, to some, this might seem like filler, but...

I have to set up their relationship SOMEHOW.

A's had the advantage of Suzuka and Hayate becoming friends to link the main trio of Lolis of Mass Destruction, but I don't have that luxury. Sakura proved useful, as her helpful disposition gave me plenty of freedom to have her befriend them and offer them a tour.

Put simply, I can't just rush past this, because later on, certain events depend on Fate, Nanoha and Naruto being friends, and those events wouldn't make a lick of sense if I hadn't spent time developing that friendship (through shared trauma!).

Also, why did the C rank go bad? It's pretty much Fanfiction etiquette that any C rank involving Naruto invariably goes to hell. This one was less bad than the norm, in which A rank shinobi show up, but still way worse than it should've been.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hidden in the Night SKy**

Chapter 14: Parley

* * *

The staff was definitely odd in her hands. She swung and swung and swung, but she just couldn't get used to the lack of a connection with her weapon. This wasn't a part of her, this wasn't an extension of her body and mind, this wasn't a magical focus. Still...

There was something else. Somewhere, deep within Nanoha, her blood sang as she moved through the Kata she had been shown, one by one, trying to imitate them to the best of her skill. Her body moved, responded and acted. Better, faster than she had expected. It was more like she was remembering old things her body knew how to do, rather than new moves she was being taught.

As she finished the last few movements, she returned to a resting position. "How was it, Sensei?" she asked, panting a little as she turned to look at the teacher Naruto had recommended.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was crying.

CRYING!

It was an absolutely hilarious image, to see him on his knees in front of a little girl. "You are the absolute best pupil I've ever had. Are you sure you don't want to be a ninja? You could be the greatest legend amongst legends!" he said, gesticulating wildly.

"Holy shit. So that's what having an actually hard working student does to him," one of the ANBU watching, "almost makes me wish I'd taken up the staff, just so I could say I made the God of Shinobi cry like a baby."

"Uhm... I'm sure," Nanoha said. "The Space Police needs me."

"Curses!" Sarutobi said, stomping his foot as he stood back up to his feet, his earlier crying fit all but forgotten. "Well, if you ever need a job, you know where to find me. Your ability with spears and staves is superb, and I have to say, your work ethic and diligence are amazing. You do need to work a bit on cleaning up your stray thoughts a little more. When you are training, you must be fully focused on what you are doing. Spreading yourself thin like you do is going to do you more harm than good in the long run."

"I'm just... worried about the future," Nanoha admitted, shaking her head.

"Don't be," Sarutobi said. "When you are training, or fighting, that is not the time to do that. There are times for everything, and you must dedicate everything of yourself to what you are doing! To do anything less, is to show a lack of respect for whatever it is you are doing, or whoever you are speaking to. Your dedication and work ethic are such that I'm sure nobody will notice in most situations, but..."

"I understand," Nanoha said, "it's just... I'm used to constantly running training simulations in my head using my device, and I'm also used to a constant drain on my magical energy. Since I don't have my device right now, I am doing neither, and that is making me quite restless," Nanoha admitted, shaking a little.

"If you are, you can come to me whenever you have free time. I will take care of your excess energy. Also, that seems similar to certain training techniques, such as putting weights on your body... I will warn you that you are inviting injury. If your Linked Core..."

"Linker Core," Nanoha corrected.

"Yes, my apologies," Sarutobi said, nodding at her correction, "if your Linker Core works like a muscle in that regard, then... I may recommend going to Maito Gai, here in this village. If anyone can tell you how to absolutely wreck yourself in training without it leaving a permanent scar on you, it's him. For now, however, let us return to our training. To be honest, I am impressed, you have talent and you have prior training."

"I come from a family of martial artists, some of it bled through," Nanoha said, taking up a stance with her borrowed staff.

"Very well. Then, let us practice all of the basic attacks once more, and then we'll start working on combinations. I'll be subtly increasing the speed gradually, I want you to try and keep up with me."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

Fate squeaked as she narrowly avoided getting an unfortunate haircut. "Impressive. Your reflexes are top notch, and your ability is commendable," Hayate noted, taking a step back to avoid getting hit by the stylized scythe that his opponent wielded. "And your weapon allows you avenues of attack we hadn't considered."

Were she to be honest, Fate would readily admit being weakened by being locked into Haken form, in a sense. More importantly, if Bardiche's energy blade failed to cut through something, it wouldn't be caught, as the blade would easily break, allowing her to have an escape route ready if her weapon was blocked. Not being able to use an actual Bardiche was also not helping, as that was where the majority of her training had gone.

Even so, she wasn't sure she could've won on a duel with Gekko Hayate. At least, not without falling back into magic. Even if she increased her speed... The man was incredibly skilled, and he might be holding back a great deal more than he appeared to be. Of course, if Fate took the fight into the air, she'd have a massive advantage, but that would defeat the point of training entirely in melee combat like this.

The lack of a third dimension to her movement had forced Fate to step up on her footwork to keep ahead of the wooden plank fashioned into a crude broadsword that chased her. Shamal would heal all of the real damage inflicted to her at the end of the day, but she couldn't return her hair. And contrary to what people thought, a wooden sword could, and would, cut her hair if it was swung hard enough. Whatever possessed Hayate to actually give it an edge was probably also what possessed Lindy to think tea was supposed to be ninety percent sugar.

Admittedly, the faces Nanoha made when she witnessed that more than made up for Lindy's sweet tooth.

And getting distracted in the middle of a fight was a dumb idea, as she noticed when she had to let herself fall flat on her back to avoid getting poked in the stomach with a wooden blade. She raised Fake Bardiche and put the blade of the scythe next to Hayate's waist.

"That move seems... familiar," Signum said, as she closed her eyes with a smile.

"I'm glad you didn't hit me when you did it to me," Fate replied, because Laevateinn would've actually killed her, whereas a wooden scythe wouldn't hurt Hayate that much. Especially since Fate hadn't given it an actual edge, instead being rounded on the area where the edge should be.

Signum shook her head. "It wouldn't have killed you. Gravely injure you, yes, but a medic would have been able to heal you," she said. "Killing a TSAB agent wouldn't have done our mistress any favors in the future."

"Is that the only reason?" Fate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I... don't enjoy killing people," Signum admitted.

Hayate finished cleaning his face from the sweat that covered it with a rag and joined the conversation. "You have to be a real nutjob to enjoy it. We've got a lot of those. Anyway, let's spar again. I won't fall for the same trick twice."

"Speaking about sparring, where IS Yuugao, right now?" Signum asked. "She should've been here..."

"She had a mission late last night and hasn't returned yet," Hayate commented.

"Very well... since she is not here, we'll have to do this another way. Very well, then... We will make this a three way spar. No magic, no chakra, just our raw skill..."

"You're well rested and we just got done sparring. You're evil, you know that?" Hayate asked, frowning at her.

Signum merely offered them a somewhat... frightening smile.

* * *

Vita sighed. "I would like to know... The way Naruto froze... that kind of terror is not like her at all."

Shamal hummed a little, leaning back on the couch. "You're right," she said, "our mistress hardly seems the one to freeze in fear at the slightest threat. Not when she was threatened during the invasion... No, there has to be something else here... And I know who could possibly know about it."

"Then, we should ask him. You mean the old man, right?" Vita asked.

"Yes, if there is anyone who knows what this could mean, it would be him," Shamal confirmed. "Signum and Zafira will be here with Mistress, so we can covertly get away and do a little questioning tonight," she said.

"Then we'll ask him then," Vita said, shaking her head.

"We can only hope it's not as bad as I think it might be," Shamal said, sighing.

* * *

"Naruto froze in the hands of her kidnapper and was so terrified she couldn't even breathe. That is not normal," Vita said, putting her feet on the old man's desk, though she could just barely manage it at her size, and kicking back on her chair. The casual image was one meant to be threatening, with Graf Eisen swinging casually behind her. It was just such a natural way of doing negotiations and conversations with authority figures for the Wolkenritter that they just fell into it naturally, and the Hokage knew. He himself had several quirks, such as always facing away from his opponent, showing them his back to show them just how non-threatening he found them.

Neither took offense, and the Hokage continued to stare at the distant horizon through the large window at the back of his office. One-way, of course. The other side looked like a wall. The wonders of sealing.

"You're right... it's not normal," Sarutobi said, shaking his head. "But... that is a story that is Naruto's to tell, when she is ready. Don't you think?" he asked.

"My mistress is many things," Vita explained, "amongst them is stubborn. She will never talk about it. She will continue to pretend it never happened. To be frank, her powers of self delusion are incredible. It's almost as if she'd forgotten those events entirely," she mentioned.

"... Impressive, for sure, but not particularly soothing to the soul to hear," Sarutobi said, evenly. "I trust you understand, before your arrival, her life was... a harsh one," he said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "She has never truly enjoyed life. Much of her time was spent alone... other children didn't wish to play with her. She was weak, she was fragile, and she was also... believed to be the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. Due to her weak constitution, people feared she would fail as a container."

"And so children didn't go near her," Vita said, "because their parents warned them not to. So she had no friends growing up, that doesn't explain-"

"The only people she ever spoke to were her caretakers. Since a very young age, she had to be taken out of the orphanage. At five years old, children begin their induction into the ranks of the Shinobi. By age six, we knew she would never be able to use chakra... and so she was removed from the orphanage and given her own home. Graciously donated, of course. The least we could do for her constant sacrifice," Sarutobi explained, grimacing. "Along the way, she had a small ring of caretakers. Two civilians and three ANBU."

"And now we're hitting the vein," Vita said, sitting straight on her chair. "I am going to assume this did not go as well as you expected it to."

"It did not. The two civilians were a couple. They appeared mentally stable, they appeared loyal to Konoha, and they appeared not to hold any ill will towards Naruto... and they didn't. They were supremely afraid of her, and they were also supremely afraid for her. They... couldn't deal with the pressure, and eventually quit their mission. This left Naruto in the care of her ANBU guards full time. Two years later, however..."

Vita grimaced. She didn't want to hear of bad things happening to her mistress, but she needed to. She had to know.

"On Naruto's eight birthday, this village faced a great tragedy. It came to be known as the Uchiha Clan Massacre. One of the Uchiha's number, Uchiha Itachi, went completely insane and turned his sword on his clansmen, slaughtering them all. Man, woman, child- he spared none. None... but one," Sarutobi said, taking a deep breath, tasting in the smoke from his pipe. "Until that night, Uchiha Itachi was an ANBU. One of my most trusted agents, in fact."

"If he laid a hand on her-"

"From what I know, the last night he visited her, he did not," Sarutobi explained. "However, I couldn't quite replace him then. People began to believe she was... cursed. The first couple sent to watch her had a nervous breakdown, and one of the ANBU that watched her, a rising star even, went completely insane. People were blaming her."

Vita sucked in a breath. "Idiots... She wouldn't harm a fly..." Vita muttered.

"One of her two remaining ANBU guards quit right then," Sarutobi explained. "Apparently, he said some mean things to her as he left and... well, he hasn't been ANBU since."

"The last one..."

"Is the source of this trauma. The situation you describes... matches how Naruto lost her last ANBU guard. You must understand, the last remaining ANBU guard had been with her practically since her birth, he was for all intents and purposes except blood her big brother. The details are unimportant. What you need to know is that Naruto was taken captive once, and in saving her... Her protector gave his life, taking a lethal attack for her."

"So Naruto... didn't fear for herself," Vita mentioned, her eyes closing. "She feared for me..?"

"Naruto doesn't fear death. She never has. Years ago, she'd have welcome it with open arms. What Naruto fears, above anything and everything else... is being left alone again."

* * *

Naruto frowned. She was feeling definitely odd. It wasn't a painful sort of odd... she was just... full of energy, and she didn't know what to do. She'd already spent most of the morning just casting and casting and casting, trying to see if she could tire herself out. At least then she'd be able to stop bouncing in her seat as she waited for everyone to come in for breakfast. She'd noticed that her levels of energy had been steadily rising, but she didn't want to trouble anyone. Last night had been the worst, she'd flat out had problems sleeping. Normally, she reached the end of the night utterly exhausted, but she'd been sleeping later and later, and she'd had to spend the entire night tossing and turning in her bed.

Fortunately, her bedmates for the night had been entirely open to the idea of a pillow fight. Even if Zafira had totally smacked everyone and shown why you don't ever challenge him to a pillow fight, Naruto had actually managed to outlast her knights' stamina.

That was... insane, to say the least.

Well, considering how weird it was for all four of them to agree to share a bed with her, it was a weird night to begin with. They hadn't even protested, and seemed eager to do it. Vita seemed to even cling to her, for some reason.

The time spent wondering whether they might have done something incredibly stupid and they were feeling guilty didn't help her find sleep, either.

Fortunately, she didn't wake up tired even though she hadn't slept very much. In fact... she woke up fully rested and refreshed, almost as if she'd had a good eight hours of sleep. For someone who usually slept closer to ten hours every night and still woke up with the feeling of exhaustion she went to sleep with, this was a completely new experience.

Unfortunately, she couldn't even enjoy cuddling with her knights in the morning, as she just couldn't stay still. She'd wound up eventually coming down and taking all the time she had from waking up so early to cook the most elaborate breakfast she'd ever made for them, and even added extra portions for Nanoha and Fate, and she still had nothing even resembling tiredness creeping up on her.

Nanoha and Fate seemed to be particularly happy, that morning, and they revealed it was because they'd finally be getting their devices back. And also, it was the time that Lindy would come to speak with the Wolkenritter directly, presenting all the neatly prepared evidence so that the Book of Darkness incident could be made to rest. "So that means you're leaving, then..? Are you... happy because you're leaving?"

"Not at all," Nanoha countered, instantly frowning. "Why would you think that?"

"They're all the same," Naruto said, eyes closed. "Everyone leaves, eventually. You're no different, are you?"

"What!? Of course we won't leave you alone, we're your friends!" Nanoha protested.

"But you're leaving me!" Naruto yelled, stomping her foot, "just like all the rest... you can't be my friends, you're just gonna leave like everyone else..."

"We're your friends, Naruto-chan," Fate said, trying to reach a hand to touch Naruto's shoulder, but her fellow blonde shook her off. "We can't live here. We have families and other friends-"

Naruto scoffed.

Nanoha frowned. A rich girl... probably'd had quite a few fake friends who only wanted to be with her for her money, she reasoned. Alisa and Suzuka had that problem fairly often, until eventually they gave up on forming friendships when people approched them, instead resigning to the fact that they'd have to approach people they wanted to befriend on their own. Or wait for Nanoha to beat them up, anyway. "Listen, Naruto-chan, just because we're going back to our homes doesn't mean we won't visit you..."

However, Naruto simply turned around and left, leaving them both perplexed.

Shortly after, they began to hear multiple castings of the same spell over and over again. Apparently Naruto was angry, because she was casting Bloody Dagger over and over again. As Nanoha and Fate rushed to the yard that separated the Dojo from the main house, they gasped as they saw Naruto casting spells upon spells at the ground. There was a sizable hole in front of her.

"It appears mistress has reconsidered the idea of a pool," Zafira noted, dryly, as he stepped into view. "But I am still interested in learning just what is going on here."

It was interesting to note he had a rather large mug of coffee in one hand, showing he'd stopped by the breakfast table.

* * *

"This is completely stupid, probably the most idiotic thing we could possibly do, and I guess I just answered the question on why we're doing it," Zafira lamented, shaking his head and burying his head on a pillow made from his hands, almost wishing he wasn't the stoic Belkan knight he was. Guardian Beast or not, the Belkans took knight training seriously, and Zafira had indeed been trained as a knight. He could even hold a sword in his beastly form!

"Hey. Think about it like this. At least we're gonna have a pool!" Shamal said, smiling.

"Just a small one, though, 'cuz I like having a yard," Naruto said, frowning.

"Shouldn't you get a permit to do something like this?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"I don't know," Naruto said, shrugging. "But the Old Man'll probably know. Hey, Old Man, do we need a permit to do this?"

Said Old Man turned around from where he was finalizing the deal with Signum on the pool's placement and zie. "Technically, you do, but I'm the supreme dictator of this village, so..."

"... That is horribly convenient," Nanoha mentioned, shaking her head.

Fate shrugged. "I can't complain. My adoptive mother's an Admiral," she said.

"Why are all my friends rich or influential?" Nanoha asked.

"Why do you make friends by making them explode?" Fate asked, tilting her head. "Some questions just don't have answers, Nanoha."

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" Nanoha asked, pouting.

"Well, I feel a lot better after destroying something," Naruto said, shaking her head.

"That's good, because we've got an hour to get you cleaned up, we can't very well receive Admiral Harlaown stinking of sweat and covered in dirt, can we?" Shamal asked, smiling at her.

"We really should take a bath, as well," Nanoha admitted. "Haven't had time since this morning's training."

"Neither did I," Fate added.

"Well, let's hurry that up, I've got to cook up a feast! We're gonna have guests!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Asura, the last few preparations were being made.

"You know I'm Konoha, right? You don't need to waste a 'slot', so to speak, bringing me along," Jiraiya said, stretching a little.

"Yes, I know, but they won't accept that. The moment you accepted to come with us, they probably began to consider you a hostile," Lindy said, shaking her head. "Nevertheless, I want to make sure that we're all on the same page. Yuuno, would you mind giving one last once over?"

Jiraiya smiled a little. "You know, you could've just told me I was going to get a lecture," he said, shrugging.

"It's simple. Research indicates that the Book has been corrupted. When exactly is unknown, but all the available research has managed to determine that the corrupted programs are the Defense and Rebirth programs, both of which are out of control. The TSAB was never able to gain administrator rights to disable or reset those programs in all of their experiments with the book. There is a minimal possibility that the Master might be able to delete them, but it's slim, as they are corrupted."

"Sounds complex. You know something more. Explain?"

Yuuno nodded. "Admiral Graham's plan circumvents the need to destroy the book, which means the Rebirth program won't come into play, and the book won't seek another master as it still has one. In theory, the book itself is not problematic. If we were able to somehow clear or seal the corruption away from the rest, it'd be possible to defuse the situation without requiring the use of the Eternal Coffin."

Jiraiya nodded. "Basically, what you need is for Naruto to separate the corrupted parts of the book herself. If she can claim administrator rights, then she can do so, correct?"

"Yes. However, even doing so would cause the Defense Program to go Berserk. Furthermore, as they are corrupted, they are also tied, and cannot be truly eliminated. The Rebirth Program is a core function of the book, which means that it cannot be disabled or removed. The only choice would be to reprogram it to exclude the Defense Program when it is reestructuring the book. As we lost the means with which the book was created, we have no idea how to reprogram it to do such a thing as of yet."

"Have you tried sealing away the Defense Program? If it isn't destroyed, it shouldn't be regenerated, right?" Jiraiya asked.

"It's been tried. However, the Defense Program has always managed to remove itself from all containers it has been sealed in, by corrupting them from within. It then goes on a rampage and either destroys itself or rejoins the main book," Yuuno explained. "There has been no succesful seal that lasted more than a couple of days on record," Yuuno said.

"Hm. So it's just too powerful to remain sealed, hm?" Jiraiya asked, frowning.

"Yes. No container has survived-"

"Has a living container ever been considered or used?" Jiraiya asked, breaking through Yuuno's concentration.

"Wha- no, never," Yuuno said, though his professionalism almost shattered at the mere idea.

"It's a common practice. In this world, there are nine persons known as Jinchuuriki. Each of them has been used to hold a very powerful beast at bay, by sealing it within their bodies. Naruto is one of them. Her body has been used to seal and hold the strongest of them all, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Any other container any of those beasts are sealed in is quickly corrupted and destroyed, allowing them to roam free. The concept here seems to be similar," Jiraiya said, crossing his arm.

"How was this 'Kyuubi no Kitsune' sealed, if you don't mind me asking?" Lindy asked, frowning.

"Like I said, it was the strongest of the Tailed Beasts," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. "So it took a lot more than the others to seal. My apprentice, then our village's leader, used a special seal called Shiki Fuuin... What it does is summon the Death God to drag both the caster and the target's soul into its stomach, sealing them forever," Jiraiya explained. "It's a sacrificial jutsu that takes the caster's life. My apprentice used his own daughter as the prison for the Kyuubi, while he himself was eaten by the Death God."

Lindy frowned and shook her head. "It's unacceptable, we won't exchange a sacrifice for another one," she said.

"No, no it isn't," Jiraiya said. "I'm fifty six years old, Admiral-chan. I've lived a long and full life. If extinguishing my life is the price to pay to make sure my goddaughter can live hers... It's not too high a price."

"Mister Jiraiya..." Lindy muttered, her tone sad.

"To perform that kind of sacrifice..." Yuuno muttered.

"It's nothing," Jiraiya said, waving his hand. "That girl is my goddaughter, but... I've never been there for her. When her father died, I was devastated and I... ran away. I was a coward, I was afraid I couldn't raise her the way she should be, so I threw myself into my work. I... I have no right to call myself her godfather, and I have no right to claim I had a hand in turning her into the lovely young girl that she is," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. "The very least I can do for her is this. She doesn't even know me, and this is for the best. I'd hate for her to be sad because of this. Admiral-chan, promise me that when all this is done... you will never tell her."

"But- you can't-" Yuuno protested.

"I understand. Then... our plan..."

"We need Naruto to become the administrator and cut out the corrupted parts of the book. I'll seal them away forever," Jiraiya said, simply. "The Knights should be okay with that much..."

"The problem is... it involves something very, very risky," Lindy said, sighing.

"In order for Naruto to become an Administrator, she would need to activate the Book in full," Yuuno commented. "She will probably have a very small window of opportunity before the corrupted Defense Program takes her over," he added.

"While I was never involved in her upbringing... I know my goddaughter is a strong girl. I have faith in her, she can do it," Jiraiya said.

"And... it's the most... satisfactory," Lindy said, trying to find a better word and failing, "choice we have right now."

"That's it, then, we're all on the same page. Now, remember, no mentioning to that girl I'm supposed to be her godfather. She's already got enough on her plate. Far as she knows, I'm just a ninja, and that's the way it ought to remain."

Yuuno and Lindy nodded.

"Are we all ready, then?" Lindy asked.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Yuuno said.

"I was born ready," Jiraiya confirmed.

"Very well, then."

* * *

The designated meeting point was normally chosen to be a neutral area, away from any innate advantages either side could use. It was a simple idea to put an even playing field so that the diplomatic negotiations could be carried out in a more... satisfactory manner. However, Konoha was not neutral ground and taking Naruto out of it wasn't acceptable, given the amount of people who believed her to be a container of a tailed beast.

Even though it was 'enemy territory', the best place to have the conversation would be... in the very same manor the Wolkenritter lived in. Almost over dinner, in fact. Fortunately, the main dinning hall was more than large enough to accomodate all of the involved parties, all five of the 'TSAB' side as well as all five of the Wolkenritter's side, Naruto included.

The large table seated all ten comfortably. Naruto, naturally, sat at the head of the table, though she herself didn't see the point of why, her knights had insisted. Directly to her left was Zafira, and directly to her right was Signum. To Signum's right was Shamal, and to Zafira's left was Vita.

Directly opposite Naruto was Lindy, who clearly understood the reason for the table's layout. To her right were Jiraiya and Yuuno, and to her left were Nanoha and Fate. Despite what should've been a heavy and oppressive atmosphere, everyone actually enjoyed a rather nice meal with plenty of table conversation. A lot of it was actually because of a stream of lewd jokes and innuendo.

A lot of it was centered around Nanoha, over whose head the jokes flew without a care in the world. However, Fate and Yuuno were both looking like ripe tomatoes and Lindy was scarcely holding back her giggles.

Of course, Jiraiya also made his customary passes at each and every one of the attractive adult females around, but was dejected when he got shot down each and every time, not even being able to score a pity date with Lindy.

Finally, however... dinner came to an end, as Naruto, still brimming with energy, went about picking up the dishes and utensils. Nanoha, Fate and Yuuno quickly stepped up to help her, and they were done with the dishes in record short time, despite the large amount. Soon enough, everyone was seted into the table once more, back in their original starting positions.

"We have welcomed you into our home, you came in peace," Signum stated, closing her eyes and leaning a bit into the table to get a better look at Lindy. "Don't make us regret giving you this chance."

Lindy smiled. "Let us begin, shall we?"

* * *

Peaceful solutions? In my Nanoha/Naruto?

This is preposterous!


	15. Chapter 15

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 15: Ask Me No Questions

* * *

Lindy smiled, thankful for the opportunity. "To start with... I'd like to ask a very simple question. You're all programs created for the book's defense, so I assume you'll be able to correctly answer it. Tell me, what is the Book of Darkness' actual name?"

The Wolkenritter all had different reactions. "What sort of question is that?" Signum asked, her eyes narrowed.

"I'll take that as 'I don't know'," Lindy said, shaking her head. "You're not even aware that its name isn't even 'Book of Darkness', it appears."

"We're the Wolkenritter, we're part of the Guardian Knight program, we'd know all about the book," Vita said, frowning.

"You would... if it was functioning properly," Yuuno interrupted and explained. "The book was created a long time ago, and it was then known as the Tome of the Night Sky. It was never intended to be a weapon... merely an archive. Of course, Belka, being Belka, saw the possibility to create a weapon of immeasurable power utilizing the book. After all, it was an archive containing a great deal of powerful spells. However, simply giving it to an user proved inefficient. Ultimately, even aided by the book and its AI component, the human element was still limiting the destructive potential of the book. So a Master who thought he was clever utilized the book's own capabilities to create an automated 'Defense' Program."

"The Defense Program is a core part of the program, and it has Administrator Rights, it couldn't possibly have been an addition that wasn't originally intended," Shamal commented, frowning.

"This was at a time when the method utilized to create the Tome of the Night Sky was still available. It's very likely they had access to the blueprints of the book, as well. Information on this era is very scarce, particularly anything on the Tome of the Night Sky. It was hard enough to dig up as much as I did," Yuuno said, shaking his head.

"That is irrelevant," Zafira spoke.

"You're right," Yuuno agreed. "The Defense Program appears to have been granted Administrator Rights. The Tome of the Night Sky's AI appears to have been designed for the purpose of being an Unison Device..."

"Uhm... Yuuno-kun, not to interrupt, but what is an Unison Device?" Nanoha asked.

"I am curious, as well," Jiraiya admitted.

"If there's something to be known about the Book, I'm all ears," Naruto added, nodding.

"An Unison Device is quite different from the Devices you are used to," Lindy began, closing her eyes for a moment to recollect the information in her mind, "instead of merely being an AI-powered tool, an Unison Device is, for most intents and purposes, a living being. They are designed for the express purpose of 'fusing' with an user, or 'Unison' with them, hence the name, thus sharing knowledge and mental ability. Typically, they bring with themselves a large power increase for their user as well as an increase in mental faculties, allowing even a normal human with little talent to cast magic without the aid of an intelligent device."

Her audience nodded, showing understanding of her lecture.

"Thank you, Admiral," Yuuno said, nodding, knowing that her lecture on Unison Devices was faster and more concise than the in-depth one he'd been about to launch on. "Shall I continue?"

"Yes, please," Lindy said, smiling at him, almost apologetically.

"Very well, now, as I was saying, the Tome's AI turned the book into, essentially, a magical archive connected to an Unison Device. As you might have guessed, the wielder of the book became incredibly powerful and it often turned otherwise weak knights unstoppable. The Defense Program, however, altered this situation quite a bit. Thinking that humans would not be able to match the skill and precision of a computer, the Master who created the Defense Program decided to cause an accidental feature of an Unison Device to become intentional, and to occur every time."

"An accidental feature?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"Yes, when an Unison is done improperly, or the Unison Device possesses an Ego much superior to that of its wielder, it may sometimes accidentally take over the body of its user, instead of merely empowering them. Other Unison Devices typically did it only in case of emergency, but the Defense Program was, well, programmed to do it each and every time. When triggered, the Defense Program would promptly take over its master and destroy anything that was labelled a 'threat' by the Master's consciousness, which would take a backseat role."

"That... is horrible, but practical," Jiraiya commented, frowning.

"An AI without true sentience would be a ruthless and impossibly precise killer," Signum said, shaking her head slightly. "It would make no mistakes, miss or disobey orders."

"It would also be merciless and cruel... and it would be limited. As it would follow orders to the letter, it wouldn't be able to adapt to situations as well as a human could. The Defense Program, while a more effective killing machine than what a human could ever be, was a lot less effective or efficient as a human soldier was, by virtue of its inability to adapt to an ever shifting battlefield," Lindy interrupted.

"You know, I'm having uncomfortable flashbacks to a certain old coot that tried to create emotionless tools out of men," Jiraiya said, frowning. "I'm opposed to emotionless machines on principle, I guess."

"Interesting though that might sound, I can see merit in the creation of the Defense Program," Yuuno said, shaking his head, "though I can see its flaws, as well."

Fate and Nanoha seemed to be quite a bit more affected, however. Fate, in particular, though she was clearly trying not to show it. Nanoha patted her shoulder, causing Fate to steel herself. It was not a moment to dwell on a past long gone.

"However, while what you're telling us isn't particularly pleasant to hear, that changes nothing to us."

Signum's words cut through the thick atmosphere in an instant.

"I'd like to ask for a bit of patience," Lindy said, somewhat hurriedly, "the extended explanation was merely intended to inform you about how we reached the conclusions we did."

"What I am wondering is... where are we through all of this?" Shamal asked, frowning.

"As far as we know, we've always been with the book," Vita mentioned, herself wearing a confused frown.

"You weren't," Yuuno said, shaking his head. "In fact, you were actually created along with the Defense Program. The Guardian Knight Program was added to make up for the diminishing numbers of Belkan Knights able to guard the Tome's master until it could be charged to completion. However, history is a bit... muddled at this point, as it seems multiple sources can't agree whether you four were volunteers, or in some way forced into your situation."

"And we can't really remember existing before we were the Wolkenritter," Zafira noted. "However... that doesn't matter."

Vita nodded. "We're the Wolkenritter now, and what we might have been hundreds of years ago... it no longer affects us."

"That's right," Naruto said, smiling widely. "Because you're my knights now," she said, simply.

"Of course, Mistress," Signum said, nodding with a slight smile on her face.

"You might have already noticed a rather big flaw that the Tome of the Night Sky had as a weapon," Yuuno began.

"Yes... Now that you mention it," Fate began, turning to Yuuno. "From what you said, the book... it had to be charged after every time it was used, right?" she asked.

"Correct," Yuuno confirmed. "In order to activate it to its full strength, it was necessary to charge all six hundred and sixty six of its pages each and every time. As you might have guessed by this point, this was a rather... crippling flaw. It meant that every time the book was needed, someone would need to protect the wielder while the Linker Cores were collected. That's where the Guardian Knight Program came in, created to defend the Master and fill the book to completion," he explained.

"Yes, that is our purpose," Signum said, "even though our mistress has ordered us not to prioritize it, it is still something that hangs in our minds."

"You could call it a sort of compulsion," Shamal said, "though our mistress' orders seem to take precedence."

"I guess you could call this the turning point of the Tome of the Night Sky's history. Until then, it was seen as a blessed item. A weapon, for sure, but a holy weapon, and its wielders seen as heroes. Well, to their allies, at any rate," Lindy explained, sighing and shaking her head. "However, someone attempted to fix the main flaw of the book, being its inability to draw in ambient mana to sustain itself instead of having to rely on absorbing Linker Cores directly."

"That's right," Yuuno said. "However, unlike the Master that created the Defense Program, the Master that attempted to fix the main perceived flaw of the book was not as succesful... Or rather, he wasn't succesful in the way he or she hoped. I don't know whether it was because of a lack of knowledge, a lack of ability or a lack of the correct tools, but what it comes down to, is that the attempt to create a self sustaining Tome of the Night Sky was... horribly succesful," Yuuno said.

"Horribly succesful? What's that mean?" Naruto asked.

"What it means is that they succeeded in creating a self sustaining killing machine. The problem is that they didn't do just that. For some reason, it appears that whatever was done to the book caused far more reaching consequences than expected. Somewhere along the lines, the Defense Program became... corrupted. Before, it was guided, if minimally, by the conscience of the Master behind it. It could identify friend from foe, and direct its destruction in a specific direction, if only barely. The corruption brought on by these modifications... removed the ability from the Master to have the slightest input. The Tome lost the ability to differentiate Friend from Foe, and it just began to destroy everything."

"Everything..?" Signum frowned.

"Everything," Yuuno confirmed. "Its enemies... its allies... the very Guardian Knights designed to protect it... and finally, once it was done destroying everything else in whatever world it was... it would turn on itself, and destroy the last living being on the planet. Its own master."

"What!?"

"As I told you," Yuuno said. "This is why the Book came to be known as the Book of Darkness, as opposed to the Tome of the Night Sky. The corrupted Defense Program would go berserk each and every time it was triggered, and it eventually modified itself to be more effective at its task. It changed the conditions of it triggering to basically the completion of the book. As soon as it was charged, it would activate, and destroy everything around it before destroying its master, only to move on and find a new master to repeat it, time and time again."

"That is..." Fate began

"Horrible," Nanoha said, "I knew this was bad, but..."

"If you are telling the truth, then..." Signum began, looking down on the table.

"Then... by trying to complete the book..." Shamal added.

"We were putting our mistress closer to death," Zafira finished, looking and sounding as solemn as the situation demanded.

"I... can't believe this..." Vita said, shaking her head. "I can't believe it. Everything we've worked for, everything we've done, has only served to hurt Naruto!? I can't-"

"It's true," Lindy said. "If you must, scan the book yourself."

Naruto frowned, but waved her hand in the air. The book seemed to phase into existence. "Huh. So I could do that," she said, shaking her head. The book was floating right next to Naruto's hand, but soon it gently dropped and Naruto grabbed it, bringing it in front of herself. "... Initiate System Analysis."

"Jawohl," the book confirmed, opening and glowing right in front of Naruto.

"System Analysis in progress..." Naruto muttered, her eyes closed. "All Systems functional. Charge Level... Ninety one percent. Wow, that was weird," Naruto said, shaking her head. "Remind me not to do that again."

"Hm. It's not unusual for the book's own scans to be unable to detect the corruption," Lindy said, shaking her head. "If it could, it would most likely have fixed it. Perhaps... can you check if something is preventing you access to the Defense Program?"

"Analyze... Open Defense Program: ," Naruto muttered to herself. "Huh. Program not found? But it's right there in the system records. Okay, I have... no idea what's going on right now. I mean, even less than I usually do, because the book doesn't have any idea what's going on either. There IS no Defense Program, even though everything tells me that there should be," Naruto said.

"But... that's strange," Lindy mentioned.

"Strange? No, strange is when your alarm clock goes off like five minutes earlier. This is flat out weird," Jiraiya corrected.

"Do we know who was the Master before Naruto?" Fate asked, looking at Lindy.

The woman shook her head. "I know what you're thinking, but we do," Lindy confirmed, "last time, the Master was slain before the book was completed, and it was held by the TSAB in containment and quarantine as we attempted to figure out a way to destroy it. It disappeared around twelve years ago."

"But then... what could this mean?" Signum asked. "Could it be that perhaps..."

"Hm, are you onto something?" Jiraiya asked.

"I'd just been thinking... perhaps the program isn't missing. Perhaps it is avoiding detection. All systems register as functional, and yet..."

Naruto shrugged. "The book can't detect it, it can detect that it's missing, but it's still functioning."

"Hm. Can you perform a scan looking specifically for it? You might be able to discover if it has changed locations," Lindy said, looking straight at Naruto.

"I can try," Naruto replied. "Search Keyword: NachtWal... This might take a few minutes, and it will take all the attention I can give it to speed it up. There is a very... large database to comb through. Which fortunately includes the definition of the word 'Database' for dummies."

"Well... meanwhile, we should discuss something fairly important. The Defense Program's corruption... it is very dangerous, regardless of what path you choose. If allowed to run unchecked, it will destroy this world, and it will destroy Naruto, as well. I'm sure you don't want that," Lindy explained.

"See? I told you," Nanoha said, smiling at Vita. "We don't want to hurt you, all we want is to help you."

"... If what you're telling us is true, then... Our debt to you is immeasurable," Signum said.

"We're just doing the right thing... All we want is to avoid a tragedy," Fate said.

Vita huffed. "I will believe it when I see proof."

"Even if the book itself can't provide proof to you, one of your number should be able to run a scan to confirm our findings and, regardless, the lack of a Defense Program even though your mistress just told you there should be one should be a pretty big red flag," Jiraiya commented.

"It is," Zafira agreed. "But that something is wrong with the book. Not that you are correct."

"Nevertheless, we must discuss what we will do with the corruption of the Tome. That is the reason to blame for the tragedy of the Book of Darkness, and as such... it must be eliminated," Lindy explained, the once warmth of her voice replaced with the cold edge developed through years of weaving through the pointless politics and bickering of the TSAB's top brass.

"If the Corruption threatens our mistress, then it will be eliminated, by our own hand," Signum replied, just as coldly. "But... we do not know how."

"Fortunately, we might have a solution," Lindy spoke, her eyes closing for a moment. "Unfortunately, it is not a simple, nor clean one. When it comes down to it, the Defense Program, whether original or not, is now part of the Core of the Tome of the Night Sky. I am going to assume that merely purging the corruption is impossible, for the very simple reason that such a simple solution would've already been tried. It's worth giving at least one shot, but it's not a potential solution we should count on."

The Wolkenritter nodded. "The solutions you have in mind are dangerous, I take it," Shamal asked.

"Of course. This sort of problem never has a safe solution," Vita muttered, bitterly. "But it's not a danger to yourself, or even to us. If that were so, you wouldn't even bring it up. You know that we would gladly risk ourselves for our mistress..."

Zafira nodded. "This means..."

"The only solutions to this problem... require awakening the Book of Darkness completely," Lindy said, nodding as she confirmed their suspicions. "As far as our research has shown, the book's programs cannot be modified in its dormant state."

"That is... strange. Don't computers usually behave in the opposite way? Isn't it more difficult to modify a running program?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head. "I know Raising Heart has to deactivate itself to process updates, at least."

"In order to update the book, you must use the programs within the book itself, and those don't activate unless the book has activated. Most likely, it was designed that way to prevent tampering with the book while it was in a dormant state, so as to avoid sabotage," Yuuno explained, frowning.

"Sounds like something I'd do," Jiraiya commented. "It makes perfect sense, if you consider the book a weapon, at least. It's actually not so different from how seals behave, in a sense."

"You mean this world's art of sealing, correct?" Signum asked.

"Yes, of course," Jiraiya said, nodding.

"We are... willing to listen. However, it will be up to mistress whether we undertake the possible solutions or not," Shamal said, evenly. Signum and Vita turned towards her, almost as if... betrayed by her words. "I will do whatever it takes to preserve our mistress' life, should it become necessary..."

"But if we just don't fill the book, then-" Vita began.

"Vita... You can feel it, can't you?" Shamal asked. "My main task is providing support and healing, and even I can feel it..."

"It doesn't matter! I'll just resist it! Even... even if-"

"Do you remember, Vita? We disobeyed Mistress to fill the book," Zafira said, eyes closed. "It's a very strong compulsion, and it will seek ways to twist us to do it. It will force us... to be the Grim Reaper that brings death to our mistress. We disobeyed mistress, even though we hated doing it and we knew we'd be punished... Why?"

"We didn't know this then! We were doing it because... because it was her dream," Vita countered. "She wished to be strong... to be Hokage, and we took it away... it was just-"

"Mistress never gave us the order to do it, and flat out ordered us to pull out the instant it became dangerous. It always was, and we went ahead, nonetheless..." Zafira continued, shaking his head. "It will twist us. It will make us find an excuse to do it. And then... we will be to blame. We will be the ones to bring her to death. And I... refuse to be the cause of my mistress' death!"

"What is your plan?" Signum asked, turning to Lindy.

"We rely on one very specific thing. Ultimately, we need Naruto to separate the Defense Program from the rest of the Tome, taking the corruption with it. Once it's done, the program can be sealed away. Through the use of an extremely powerful technique native to this world... It will be sealed away for eternity."

"I'm gonna do the sealing myself," Jiraiya said, closing his eyes and leaning back. His voice was strangely solemn. "It's the least I can do," he added.

"But if she's not able to..." Shamal began.

"Then she'd have to be sealed along with the Defense Program," Lindy said, evenly. "Which is something we really, really don't want."

Signum's eyes closed. "That result would be unacceptable. But... anything else is death."

"The seal we would need to utilize to seal a being of this kind of power... it's permanent. There is no getting out of it, as far as I know. Once it's used, whatever goes in, never, ever, comes back out," Jiraiya explained, frowning.

"The only other option is the use of a specific spell from a specific device designed specifically to seal away both Book and Master. The Eternal Coffin, utilized by the device Durandall. Unlike the seal Jiraiya intends to use, this is reversible. It is hard to do so, but it is possible to break the seal and liberate the one trapped within. It essentially freezes a part of space, removing it from the stream of time," Lindy explained.

"Would the one trapped within age?" Shamal asked.

"No," Lindy confirmed, "the one trapped with is frozen and outside of time. They don't grow, nor age, until they are removed. However, we are unsure of any ill effects this might have on a human, as it is, for clear reasons, untested on such."

"I see," Shamal said, nodding. "If it were used in such a way, it should be possible to seal away the book for eternity. However, you run the risk of someone hungry for power attempting to unseal us."

"You don't need to sacrifice yourselves along with-"

Signum shook her head, cutting Lindy off. "If our mistress were to be sealed away, it'd be our duty to be with her. Both as her Knights, as her servants... and as her family."

"We would never leave Naruto alone to suffer while the rest of us live on," Vita said, glaring at Lindy.

"I wouldn't imply such a thing," Lindy said, raising her hands. "But I am fairly certain she herself would protest such a thing."

Nanoha and Fate nodded. "Naruto would order you not to do it," Nanoha said.

"She would," Shamal agreed.

"We would disobey," Zafira said, seriously and without an ounce of humor. "It would shame us as knights to disobey our Lord and Mistress."

"But our pride as knights... it doesn't seem to matter as much now, does it?" Shamal asked, turning to Signum.

"There are bigger and more important things to worry about, indeed," Signum admitted.

"Sealing away the Defense Program after Naruto has separated it from the Book would be our best option, then," Lindy said. "Don't you agree?"

"Yes. That would be the best solution possible," Signum agreed. "It is also, however, very difficult and dangerous."

"Indeed, it is. If it fails, we'll have to go with Plan B," Lindy stated, plainly. "We will still need to consult with Naruto. Ultimately, it's up to her, whether we go through with it or not."

"Then we'll have to wait until she's done, right?" Fate asked, turning to Lindy.

"Indeed."

Jiraiya whistled. "So... anyone got anything to pass the time? A card game, or something?"

"I do need to become reacquainted with Bardiche," Fate noted. "The modifications made..."

"Both Devices have been fitted with specific replacement parts, giving them a stronger frame in general," Lindy commented. "But we also used data we collected from the Wolkenritter's devices to add an entirely new system to each of them."

"Really?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes. To put it simply, it's a Mid-Childan adaptation to the Belkan Cartridge System," Lindy said, nodding at Nanoha. "It should, theoretically, allow you to fight on an even level with the same opponents that defeated you earlier."

"We're close to equals," Signum said, looking at Fate. "Your device made all the difference. I look forward to engaging in combat with you once more, now that we are on a level ground," she added.

"This time, I'll win, Vita-chan," Nanoha said, looking at Vita, who was grinning in challenge.

"Bring it on," Vita said, her hand going to her neck, fingering Graf Eisen's sealed form, which dangled from it.

"Okay, I'm done," Naruto said. "I've got good news and bad news."

"This isn't promising," Jiraiya commented.

"Good news is, I found NachtWal," Naruto began. "That's the name of the Defense Program, by the way," she added.

"It has a name?" Jiraiya asked, clearly confused. "Why would you even give it a name?" he asked.

"Well, saying 'Defense Program' every time probably got a little tedious, so they gave it a name instead, I imagine," Yuuno mentioned. "Nevertheless, the program's name was never quite made clear. It's difficult to pull information about it from the ground, given that the Book of Darkness destroyed the very facilities that made it, and all that it was connected to, itself."

"It has also damaged its own records," Naruto mentioned, off handedly. "A lot of the files here are corrupted. Much of it has been deleted, as it is practically useless and impossible to recover."

"Well, this does offer confirmation," Shamal mentioned. "Of a sort."

Signum was torn. Should she smile that the opponent she thought was honorable proved to be true to her word? Or should she be angry at the corruption that threatened to consume and destroy her mistress? Truly, it was actually a vexing thought, to think that such a thing could pass by the Knights so easily. How could they protect their mistress, if they had been slowly killing her for so long?

"You said you found the program, right?" Nanoha asked. "Can you separate it from the book? We might be able to seal it away and end this right now-"

"Well, I found it, but I'm afraid separating it from the book is going to be impossible," Naruto said, frowning as she opened her eyes and looked at the table. "At least, right now," she said.

"What? Why?" Nanoha asked.

"Because... well, remember when I told you that I couldn't find it by scanning the book's programs? Turns out there's a reason for that," Naruto said. "It's not in the book."

"But... what? You said you'd found it," Jiraiya protested.

"And I did. Just not in the book," Naruto said, grinning and scratching the back of her neck. "Since I only ever found files I'd already found that were connected to NachtWal, I decided to scan something else and... Well, I found exactly where it is."

"Where?" Signum asked.

"NachtWal is... within me. I am, for all intents and purposes, the current physical vessel for the Defense Program."

* * *

Well...

Plot twist?

Maybe. Hey, remember when people where wondering why the hell Naruto could suddenly do magic?

Now you know why.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 16: Break the Fast

* * *

There was only silence for almost a full minute.

It was finally broken by Shamal. "But that can't possibly be true..!"

"Are you implying I'm lying, Shamal?" Naruto asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I... err, mistress, I didn't mean-"

"But you did," Naruto said, her eyes narrowing. "Are you asking for another punishment?"

"Oh, this is golden," Jiraiya mentioned, as he pulled out a notebook and a pen from... somewhere... and began writing at an incredibly quick pace. "Would you elaborate on that, Naruto?"

"I haven't decided," Naruto said, shrugging with one arm, while the other held onto the book in front of her. "I am not lying, Shamal."

"But mistress... I checked, I saw your Linker Core. There was nothing attached to it... the Defense Program wasn't there a week ago, so why would it be there now?" Shamal wondered, frowning. "We got a... very good look at your Core, mistress..."

"Then you didn't notice it," Naruto said. "Which means you probably need more training, then," she added.

Lindy slumped on her chair. "Well, this situation just got a whole lot more difficult," she muttered, bringing a hand to her face to massage the bridge of her nose. It was a vain attempt at trying to ward off the incoming headache that she just knew would be bothering her for a while. "We can't go with the original plan now. Even if we can seal the Defense Program... How do we even remove it from within her safely..?"

"You won't," Naruto said. "It's a part of me... It's a part of my book. It belongs to me. I won't allow you to take it away from me."

"But, Naruto-chan, the Defense Program is corrupted!" Nanoha protested.

"Yes, it's dangerous," Fate added.

"I don't care," Naruto said, frowning. "If it's corrupted or whatever, I'll just straighten it out myself! It's my duty as its master."

"It's... not that simple," Yuuno said, raising himself up a little. "You'd need to redesign the program from scratch... we don't have any of the tools used to create it in the first place, nor do we have the slightest knowledge on how to go about procuring them. And you can't use the book itself to do it, if it's not attached to the book... As of right now, it appears to be dormant still... but we don't even know if it will activate soon, or at all..."

"Yes, this situation is quite a bit more complicated than it was before," Signum said, turning to Lindy, who nodded at the meaningful look directed her way.

"We will have to start back from scratch, to find a way to solve this..." Lindy agreed, knowing the hidden meaning behind Signum's gesture. "To be honest, we haven't dealt with something like this before, so this is new territory..."

"But not for me," Jiraiya began, nodding his head. "This is not so new to me. Naruto is essentially no different from any of the other eight Jinchuuriki that live in this world."

"Uh... What's a Jinchuuriki?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head.

"To put it in the simplest way I can, living containers for beings of incredible power," Jiraiya said, waving his hand as if trying to explain there was much more to it than that. "Anyway, the point is, their ability to contain their beasts tends to depend on two things. Their seal, and their willpower. Most Jinchuuriki lose their ability to hold the beast back when the requirements for their seal to function correctly fail to be met. For most, this usually means serious damage to the container, willingness to keep the beast held back or someone tampering with the seal in any way."

"Sounds... Bad," Nanoha said, freely. "They're sacrifices, aren't they?"

"In a sense," Jiraiya admitted, nodding gravely. "The nine Tailed Beasts that Jinchuuriki contain are engines of destruction with virtually unlimited power. Either we hold them in check, or they'd raze the world. It's unfortunate, but sacrifices have to be mad-"

"Are they sentient?" Nanoha asked, frowning.

"... I don't understand your question," Jiraiya said, blinking.

"Are they sentient? Do they think? Can they communicate? Can you talk to them?" Nanoha clarified, looking at Jiraiya right in the eye. "Are they... people?"

"I... don't really know for sure. I know that one of them, at least, can and does talk with his host," Jiraiya confirmed.

"Have you even tried to reason with them?" Nanoha pressed. "Has anyone, ever?"

"Actually, yes, we have tried to in the past. And it's never worked," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. "But that's not what we're here to discuss, miss."

"So... We have nothing to discuss, then? There's nothing I need your help for," Naruto said, smiling widely. "I am the Master of the Book of Darkness-"

"It's name is the Tome of the Night Sky," Yuuno cut off. "And... regardless of everything else, I urge you to listen to me. We don't know how this situation could've come by, or how to solve it, but... you need help. We have never had something like this happen, and you could be in extreme danger... you must listen-"

"It's name is whatever I say it is," Naruto said, frowning with her eyes closed. "This is my responsibility to deal with. It's something I will fix myself! I won't... I won't allow you to take it from me! I won't allow you to take my knights! They're mine, mine and no one else's!"

"We're not trying to do anything like that," Fate plead, leaning a bit forward. "Believe me, I-"

"are a liar," Naruto cut off, frowning. "You said you're my friend... but you're leaving, too... Just like everyone else... I don't care to have friends who leave me, so you're not my friend anymore."

"That's not right, Naruto-chan," Nanoha tried. "We're your friends, I-"

Naruto shook her head, pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, clearly ignoring everyone else.

"Hm... Perhaps we might continue our... discussions over dinner again?" Lindy asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Sure," she said.

"Very well then... It's getting very late. Would you mind setting a date for when we may meet ag-"

"Anytime's fine," Naruto said. "Even tomorrow," she said.

"I see..." Lindy said, nodding, clearly only slightly bemused by being cut off. "Very well then, tomorrow it is. You wouldn't mind if I brought along a couple more guests, right?"

"The more the merrier," Naruto said, giving Lindy a smile.

"Thank you," Lindy said, smiling widely. "Thank you for offering us this chance," she said, bowing slightly towards Naruto.

Naruto shrugged. "See you guys tomorrow, then."

"Very well. Let us accompany you out... Mistress, are you going to head to bed?" Signum asked.

Naruto nodded. "I don't feel sleepy at all, though, so..."

"I see. I understand," the de facto leader of the Wolkenritter said, nodding. "We shall be up shortly."

"Great! You'll all have to help me think up a punishment for Shamal, so you better don't forget!"

"... This is kinda surreal," Jiraiya said, grinning widely, "but I'm loving every second!"

* * *

Deep into the wee hours of the morning, Naruto sat frustrated on her bed. Around her were the bodies of her knights, all exhausted and already asleep. They'd started a game, first as a punishment for Shamal, but it'd quickly become too fun to quit, and eventually the 'truth or dare' that had begun as a punishment game was spread around and turned into a fun collection of challenges. At least, they were fun to Naruto. It had become quite competitive for the Wolkenritter at some point.

Naruto absent mindedly left her bed, trying her best not to disturb her knights' sleep. It wasn't hard, they were sleeping like logs. Naruto then began to pace around her room. Fortunately, she wasn't stepping very hard, and the soft, padded carpet below her feet, a reminder of the fact that once upon a time, she could get hurt just by walking barefoot on wood, helped to make sure she didn't make a single noise as she walked around the room, picking up all the stray bits that had flown about. Whether it be clothing discarded in dares to remove it, or clothing willingly removed to be able to sleep better, she put it all in the same pile.

Once that was done, she moved about and collected three plastic bottles that had once held fizzy drinks. To think that Shamal had managed to drink all three of them without taking a single breath was astonishing. The fact that she couldn't contain the escaping gas that manifested itself as the loudest burping Naruto had ever heard was icing on the cake.

While she picked up the bottles, Naruto frowned as her ears caught a somewhat familiar sound. Vita's whines were, at this point, a language she understood very well. Far be it from the Knight of the Hammer to ever vocalize her pain if she could avoid it, but when she was asleep, she wasn't so much the fierce Knight she portrayed as she was a girl like any other. Perhaps a bit spoiled, Naruto amended, given that the whine she'd heard was interpreted as Vita missing a comforter in her sleep.

Well, that, and Zafira's movement had dragged the covers a bit, leaving her uncovered. Her body was covered only by a flimsy night gown, and it didn't provide near enough heat insulation to keep her warm in the chilly night air.

Naruto's eyes scanned the room, and quickly landed upon what she needed right now. While Naruto owned quite a few plush toys, most of them were simply there for decoration, because Naruto liked their aesthetic appeal. After all, if she wanted something to cuddle with, she had her knights, who were warm and made her feel safe in ways her toys never could. There were a few, however, which provided other functions. One was actually a pig that she used as a proverbial piggy bank, because she'd found the idea hilarious, so she had replaced its stuffing with coins.

But the one she was looking for was on the smaller side, and it was one that was very familiar to her. It wasn't very old, either, and it wasn't a common occupant of her bedroom, but it was the one she needed, and she was glad it was on top of her vanity for some reason. She grabbed the stuffed bunny and walked over to the edge of the bed where Vita lay back to back with the largest of the Wolkenritter, Zafira. It seemed that the knights found the most comfort in sleeping back to back with each other.

She wondered if it was because they'd guarded each other's backs for so long, depending only on each other, that they had such a strange custom... but she never complained. After all, it usually meant that she slept right in between.

Naruto put the stuffed bunny right in front of Vita, and after she seemed to stir a little, her hands shot forward and grabbed it, pulling it close to her and hugging it. The frown on her face turned to a smile, and she returned to sleeping soundly, murmuring something unintelligible. It was Belkan, but it was so horribly mangled by Vita's asleep brain that it was incomprehensible anyway.

With her free hand, Naruto had grabbed onto the covers and pulled them towards Vita, using them to cover her.

Patting the smallest of the Wolkenritter's head, Naruto smiled and walked off her room. She'd had her fair share of drink earlier, and was craving the use of the bathroom. Maybe once she emptied her bladder, she'd be able to catch a few dreams in the night.

* * *

Two hours later, Naruto had given up on sleep.

It just wasn't coming. She'd been lying on her bed, in between Zafira and Shamal's bodies, for the past hour and fifty minutes. The sun had begun to rise in the distance... and her eyelids weren't even heavy. In fact, she was actually starting to squirm in her bed, since her body asked for... no, demanded movement. She surged with energy from within, and it just would not let her sleep. She wasn't feeling mentally tired, either. Usually, even on days when she was energetic, she just could not go on because her brain was just that tired.

Deciding that enough was enough, Naruto finally abandoned her quest for sleep and left her bed once more, stealthily and subtly, not disturbing her knights' sleep in the least. It was a little harder, as now they were rested and the slightest brush would likely alert them.

Ten minutes later, Naruto was changed to start her day, wearing a traditional white apron over a simple orange skirt and black shirt. She'd foregone the use of slippers, which meant her white socks were stained dark on the side covering her feet from below, but she didn't really care. Washing them wouldn't be a problem, she had all sorts of stuff to wash along with them.

The reason she wore an apron would be easy to guess, as she was standing on top of a stool in front of the stove. Behind her, the table was full of ingredients she'd pulled out of her cupboards and the shelves. Flour, eggs, milk, baking powder, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, salt, honey, jam in several flavors, peanut butter... Naruto gave the ingredients one last inspection and nodded before turning around and inspecting the stove. Finding nothing to be out of the ordinary except a stain or two here and there which could be easily cleaned up with a wet rag, Naruto checked the knot holding the apron together behind her and found it satisfactory.

She grabbed a bowl from the cupboards directly below the sink and smiled at seeing it perfectly pristine. She gave it a wash, nevertheless, and then broke three eggs, depositing their contents within. Shortly after, she took care of the few pieces of egg shell that broke off and landed on the bowl, plucking them with her own fingers and tossing them away.

She also put a few pieces of butter in a small bowl, which she shoved into a microwave. Certainly, one of the greatest inventions created for those big on hunger and short on time. It also gave her a bit of patriotic pride, knowing it'd been invented in Konoha. She punched in about a minute thirty, and it began to do its work, humming softly.

Without waiting a further moment, she began pouring in the flour and baking powder, and sprinkled the mix with a little salt. She used no real measurements but her own eyeballs, and judged the amount she added as enough. Calculating the amount of flour she had poured in based on the volume it visibly occupied and knowing its density was faster than pouring it into a container that served to also measure, after all. Naruto didn't even question how she was capable of performing such a feat, because, were she to be quite frank, she didn't find it in herself to give a crap.

Even if she knew the answer now.

As the butter hadn't finished melting, Naruto moved back to the cupboards below the kitchen and pulled out a simple pan, which she again washed before putting it over the stove at a medium-low setting. As it began to heat up, Naruto used the last bits of butter to rub all over the pan. The combined heat of her hand and the pan served to quickly melt the butter, which made it easier to spread over the pan.

Naruto blinked in surprise when she heard the dinging sound of the microwave finishing.

It didn't take her long to remove the small bowl with melted butter from the microwave, which she then poured on top of the earlier mix she'd made, along with milk. She stirred gently, slowly and methodically, until she had the mix exactly where she wanted it, not quite homogenous, with visible yet tiny clumps of dry ingredients still visible.

Shortly after, she put her hand under the spray of water from her kitchen sink. A quick movement had a few sprinkles of water drops dotting the butter-covered pan. Nodding satisfactorily when she saw the water's interaction with the pan, Naruto grabbed the bowl with her mix and gently poured some of it on top of the pan.

Naruto smiled widely. It was already starting to smell delicious! She wondered... what else did she have? Her kitchen was fairly well stocked...

* * *

Zafira blinked when he was served a veritable tower of fluffy and soft-looking pancakes, dripping with sweet syrup from an unidentifiable source, decorated with a small marshmallow on top. To his right, he saw another tower, this one having pancakes decorated with chocolate chips and in turn covered in melted chocolate that was clearly freshly melted, but already starting to dry. To his left, he gazed in wonder at the unidentifiable, yet delicious-smelling fruit pancakes, which had so many things tossed in them that his nose was starting to lose track.

"Since you were the first one to wake up, you get to be my taste tester! So go on, try them all and tell me what you think!" Naruto said, smiling widely.

Well... when asked like that, he couldn't really say no, could he?

He'd risk ruining her good mood and missing the opportunity. Thankfully, she'd prepared some really bitter and strong coffee. Apparently, somewhere down the line, she'd realized she'd been going too sweet, since there were also a few visible coffee-flavored pancakes. Well... sitting there and just staring dumbfounded at the veritable modern-city mockup that the kitchen table had become would probably not be productive at all.

So Zafira took a fork, a knife and his own determination to tackle on this, most mighty of opponents.

* * *

Shamal sighed. "You ate too much, of course your tummy hurts," she said, rolling her eyes as Zafira whined. He'd turned into his dog form on the basis that it had a better chance at getting healed out of pity. Large or small, he could always pull off a puppy dog's eyes. "You'll be fine with a little rest for your stomach to settle. What were you eating, anyway? You don't usually stuff yourself this much..."

All of a sudden, their shared mistress walked into the room. "Oh! Shamal, you're awake! Come over for breakfast!"

Shamal shrugged. "Mistress woke up early, I guess," she muttered. Zafira looked at her for a moment, but she ignored him. "Very well, mistress, just a moment."

"Zafira, can you get Signum and Vita when you come back down?" Naruto asked. "I'll go get washed up."

Only then did Shamal notice that her mistress was covered in a yellowish sustance. At least, her arms up to her elbows and her apron were. There was also a bit of it on her face and hair.

Zafira nodded. "I shall," he said, solemnly, almost as if being ordered to go into a suicide mission.

Naruto grinned and left, heading towards the bathroom.

"... That's odd. Mistress is usually a very good cook. Did she mess up..?" Shamal asked.

"Actually, it's the total opposite. Her food is delicious, as usual... in fact, it's a bit... too good," Zafira admitted. "I... over indulged," he admitted, sheepishly. It was a most odd thing to hear. "Mistress seems to have woken up very early. She spent the entirety of the last hour or so just making pancakes of all sorts, from her own account. She made... quite a lot."

"Oh dear..." Shamal muttered, frowning to herself. "That good?"

"Even better..." Zafira admitted. "You'd better hurry. If you know Vita, you know there'll be none left if she gets there before you... And a good thing about being able to go back and forth in my forms is that it consumes a great deal of energy... which opens up my stomach..."

* * *

Naruto blinked and shook her head, taking a deep breath. She dipped her hands into the gathered water in front of her before bringing them to her face and wiping at it energetically. She removed her hands and released her breath. She brought her face up and looked at herself in the mirror. Ruby red eyes met her gaze, but when she blinked, they were back to the usual sapphire blue that her eyes normally were. "There's batter everywhere... I think I'll have to take a bath," Naruto muttered to herself. "Hm... after breakfast!"

Content with her choice, Naruto pulled the stopper from the sink, allowing the water to drain.

"I wonder how everyone's enjoying breakfast?" she muttered to herself as she used a nearby towel to dry her face.

* * *

Vita burped. "I can't... eat anymore..." she muttered, waving her fork like a dying man waves his sword. "But... double chocolate chips and cookie dough... bwahh... Why must you taunt me... so?"

"That's getting a bit dramatic," Signum stated, drinking a cup of the super bitter coffee Naruto had made to counteract the sweetness of breakfast. She had to admit, even that was a surprising step in the right direction. The contrast in flavors brought both up magnificently, and it made it really easy to enjoy her mistress' cooking efforts without gaining a distaste for all things sweet.

Shamal giggled a bit as she watched Vita trying to push more pancakes down her gullet. "Really, though, if all of us end up with a stomach ache... that'd be bad."

"Would it, really?" Signum asked, smirking a little. "Is a stomach ache from being too full not the sign of a happy and carefree life..?"

"You're the last person I'd expect to hear that sentence from," Zafira admitted, looking at her somewhat oddly.

"... Truth be told, I do not relish the life of a warrior. These days... these days we spend solely as a family, are the ones I cherish the most. Is that so strange, coming from me?" Signum asked, somewhat concerned by the image that the other knights held of her.

"Not really," Vita commented, yawning as she did. "We're all the same, am I right?"

"Truly, yes," Zafira admitted. "I am a Guardian Beast, my sole task in life is to protect and serve my master, and my life has been spent fighting endlessly, and yet..."

Shamal smiled warmly. "Nobody asked us what we wished for. Nobody provided us with this kind of environment before..." she mused, looking at her own cup of coffee, only slightly sweetened at all, and even then, only by the addition of a little milk. "Nobody treated us as... family... before."

Signum smiled. The stoic knight often guarded her expression, and seldom let the truth of her feelings show through. Oh, one couldn't call her unexpressive at all, but she was still a rather subdued individual, when it came to expressing her emotions. It was telling, then, that she could offer so much with such a small smile, barely an upturning of her lips. Yet, as she closed her eyes and took a deep whiff of the rich smell of her coffee, Signum offered her fellow knights more emotion in that single expression than she ever had her enemies with anything else. "Yesterday... we learned of something very shocking. This might be a threat to our mistress' life..." Signum muttered, her smile dropping as the topic changed.

"You don't have to speak," Shamal said, nodding at her.

"We already know," Zafira added, adding his own nod.

Vita clenched her free hand and brought it up, looking intently at her fist. "With our hands... with our power... we'll save her. From anything and everything that presents a threat... even if that threat... is the book of Darkness itself!"

Since Naruto came into the kitchen shortly after, however, all further conversation in that direction was promptly killed, as the newly formed whirlwind known as Naruto swept through the room. None of the four knew how, but she had shortly extracted from each of them a promise to be present to help her with that night's dinner and dessert. The whirlwind left as quickly as it'd swung by, dragging them as it did, in a direction all of them knew well. The biggest bathroom in the house received a lot of use, after all...

* * *

In contrast to the carefree atmosphere in the Uzumaki household, up in orbit things were much different. The Briefing room of the Asura was not filled to bursting, but it wasn't particularly empty, either. While most operatives were still planetside, just in case, the more... involved members of the operation had all gathered to discuss the situation. This led to a rather... interesting bunch being present.

"If she works, at all, like a Jinchuuriki, then extraction of her tenant would kill her," Jiraiya said, simply. "As you might have guessed, I can do it," he added, but his frown gave no doubts about what his opinion on such a course of action would be.

"We can't do that," Nanoha said, a frown on her face.

"I agree," Lindy said, taking a sip from her tea. It was more sugar than tea, and as such Nanoha had refused to call it such, but to Lindy tea was tea, no matter how sweet she wanted it. "As it is, we should observe the situation..."

Chrono nodded, in clear understanding. "If this is how Mr. Jiraiya explained, then... there's a possibility she might be enough of a seal for the Defense Program."

However, this made Yuuno frown. "Using a human as a seal is... not right," he said.

Everyone expected Jiraiya to react harshly to the perceived insult to his culture, which did it regularly, but instead, he seemed to nod in agreement. "It's a last resort."

"So... if you want to observe the situation..." Fate mused. "That's why you insisted on visiting again, right?" she asked, absent mindedly patting Arf, who'd taken the form of a puppy, on the back of her head, causing her to whine in delight.

"Correct," Lindy confirmed, offering Fate an encouraging smile of approval. "At this point, we've managed to reach a truce with the Wolkenritter. Negotiations have gone very well. However, it remains to be seen how the situation will develop... It might change still..."

Jiraiya nodded. "I seriously hope it doesn't... Even if it's not the optimal result..."

"For the time being, it's acceptable," Lindy said, frowning. "When it comes down to it, if she can manage to hold the Defense Program in check and prevent it from ever breaking out to cause destruction... then that would be enough. It'd give us sixty, maybe more, years to come up with an alternate solution."

"This operation has run a little... longer than I expected it to, and less combat focused," Chrono admitted out of the blue, "I am... surprisingly glad for it's mostly peaceful route," he added. "But even so... I can't help but feel like everything's going too well. Like... I don't know, like everything is just gearing up to an even larger storm. I've had cases like this... where everything seems to be going swimmingly..."

"Let's hope the pattern doesn't keep," Lindy said.

"Admiral... I request permission to join the group that will visit today," Nanoha said, bowing towards Lindy.

"Hm... That's unnecessary. The people who will accompany me are already decided. We'll all go. I already sent Signum the specifications of our party and they have already agreed to host us all," Lindy explained with a smile. "We've proved our peaceful intentions, after all..."

"This is probably either a gesture of good will on their part," Chrono mused, "or, based on what you've told me, their mistress making an unilateral decision and forcing her knights to go along with it."

"Forcing is a harsh word," Jiraiya commented, grinning. "You can't force someone who doesn't refuse you, after all..." he added.

Nanoha sighed. "It's such a weird relationship... I can tell that they care for each other very much, but... Naruto-chan behaves so strangely with her knights..."

"It's a long story. I only know it from an outsider's perspective, but... to put it simply, Naruto didn't use to be like this with them. It's a behavior that she developed from her efforts to keep them in line... and no, it's not because they went out to hurt other people or anything of the sort..."

"Well... we have time until our turn on the simulator comes up," Nanoha said, smiling at Fate. "So..."

"Heh. I'm a world-renowned storyteller, little lady," Jiraiya said, grinning. "So, let me tell you the story of our little Mistress of the Night Sky..."

* * *

Soooo...

Hi, everyone, my name is [CLASSIFIED], I am your author. I recently died. But through an extremely convoluted series of events, I have been brought back to life. Unfortunately, my arms were switched and it took a bit of adjusting to get used to the fact that now my thumbs are on the other side. Therefore, this chapter was delayed even more.

Also...

I still don't see no stinkin' Tropes page. This makes me cry inside, but I'm gonna act like a tough guy and pretend to be angry instead. Is that okay with y'all?


	17. Chapter 17

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 17: You must choose wisely

* * *

Thirteen years ago, on October Tenth...

A voluptuous beauty of a redhead, one Uzumaki Kushina, was on a secured location, hidden just off of Konoha. It was a fortified location, with several elite ninja providing security. And the reason for all this security was that Uzumaki Kushina was, at the time, giving birth to her firstborn daughter. Though originally they thought it'd be a boy, and had prepared accordingly, but that's beside the point.

Uzumaki Kushina was accompanied by her husband, one Namikaze Minato, also known as the Fourth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and her midwife, Sarutobi Biwako, wife to the Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Now, the thing here is, Uzumaki Kushina was not just some normal girl. Nor was she even a normal ninja. No, Uzumaki Kushina was none other than the container for the nine tailed fox, the greatest amongst the Tailed Beasts and widely recognized as the most powerful being in the world, known to cause natural disasters with a mere swipe of its tails. Because it did it. A lot.

What's wrong with her being the container, you ask? Well, the person who made Kushina's seal had made the seal and placed it directly on her stomach... but missed, and instead the seal had actually contained the Nine Tailed Fox in her womb. As you might have guessed, this means that when the womb expanded to hold Kushina's unborn child, the seal was stretched and warped.

Well, the sealmaster who made the seal had anticipated that, and actually made sure that the seal would adapt to such an occurrence. It would be strained, but Kushina would be able to have children, even though her womb space was shared between those children and a massive fox of mass destruction.

And everything would've been okay, except some masked guy appeared, quite literally out of nowhere as far as we've been able to tell, and decided that breaking the seal might be funny, so he went and did it, freeing the Nine Tailed Fox and ensuring Kushina was doomed to die, as her body wouldn't be able to survive long without the fox it'd grown dependant on.

Then the fox made damn sure she'd die by impaling her on one of its claws, while also getting Minato, the fourth Hokage, for a double kill. However, because my student is a freaking badass, even when most of his guts were splashed right in front of him, he went and sealed the Nine Tailed Fox into his newborn kid before dying. Oh, by the way, the fox only managed to get them both because they jumped in the way of its attack to save their kid. To be honest... I've never been more proud of the boy I helped raise than I was when I saw him sacrifice his life for his child and village without a second thought.

* * *

"That's horrible," Nanoha muttered, looking at Jiraiya. "That baby... it was Naruto-chan, wasn't it?"

"Right in one," Jiraiya said, grinning.

"But that would mean... Naruto is the daughter of the previous leader of your village, right? I'd assume she'd be treated like a princess..." Fate muttered.

"She would be," Jiraiya said, "if anyone knew. When it comes down to it, though, her security is a bigger concern than her comfort and... if people knew she's Minato's kid, then literally everyone in the planet would be trying to kill her, whether it be to prevent a second Yellow Flash from coming about or just to spite her father posthumously," Jiraiya said, shrugging.

"That's sad... so... she doesn't even know who her parents are?" Fate asked, frowning. Even she, with her interdimensional criminal of a mother, knew who she was...

"She might've blurted it out accidentally, or given a hint about it to the wrong person. We really, REALLY don't want that secret getting out. I only told you because I am certain you're all responsible enough to handle it. Don't disappoint me," Jiraiya said, scanning his eyes around the crowd, most of which was pretending not to listen. "Anyway, back to the story... Immediately after those events..."

* * *

Naruto was headed for the orphanage.

I could've adopted her myself, but that would've been a beacon asking anyone to come and kill her just to spite me. I've pissed off a LOT of people. Hell, anyone who knew who she was had their own enemies that made them unsafe guardians. Sensei didn't even want to raise his own kids and pretended they were some other clan member's kids that he'd taken in out of pity, just so people wouldn't immediately try to kill them while they were defenseless. Boy was Asuma pissed when he learned of that one.

Anyway, the point is, none of Minato's friends could take Naruto, and Kushina, well, she had the one friend and... let's just say there was no way in hell we would've left Naruto with that one.

* * *

"Hm... why?" Nanoha asked. "Was she a bad person?"

"No... not really. She was a nice gal. At least, after Kushina dislodged that stick that was up her bum and beat her to unconsciousness with it on repeated occassions. No, the problem wasn't the woman herself, it was her family. Her family was a clan known as the Uchiha, and... well, they weren't particularly mentally stable, as a clan... and it was a blessing in disguise, since a member of their clan would go crazy and wipe them out eight years after Naruto's birth."

"Dodged a bullet, then," Arf noted, morbidly.

"Quite," Jiraiya agreed. "Anyway, since none of us could take her, Naruto went to the orphanage..."

* * *

And she didn't have that great a time there. Naruto had been born as a strong child, but... it seemed that at some point her strength had faded. By now, I can tell that this was the book's doing. By the time she was five, she was supposed to start training to be inducted into the ninja corps, but... her mind was willing. Her body... well, wasn't. She couldn't keep up with the physical portions of her training and by the time she was six, we discovered she had no chakra to speak of.

Since that didn't make a whole lot of sense, considering both her parents had chakra, at the time we assumed she had some rare medical conditon. It appeared incurable and the only medic in the planet who could do something about it wouldn't be convinced to help by anything short of a moral threat, and even then it was an uphill battle to convince her to help.

Being the weakest kid in the orphanage led to quite a bit of taunting, but that wasn't all that much. The real problem was that later on we had to move her to live alone, and here's when the real story of an unlucky girl begins...

* * *

"Well... I'm very bored," Naruto admitted, crossing her arms. "And if I start dinner now, by the time I'm done, we'll have too much food, and we'd have to throw it out, and that'd be such a waste," she added, frowning. "I don't know what to do."

The Wolkenritter looked at each other. It was... not a very common sight to see their mistress like this. Often, she barely had enough energy to get through the day, and it was really a testament to her willpower that she could get through all the chores of the day before collapsing like a fallen tree on their bed. Of course, she still had strength enough to clamp onto one of them like a vice, preventing them from leaving her bed, but at that stage it'd take the clap of thunder right next to her ears to wake her up.

"But still... Mistress, this is a bit much-" Shamal protested, but Naruto waved her hand and cut her off.

"I'll be fine!" Naruto countered, grinning and bouncing on the balls of her feet. She seemed to calm down for an instant, closing her eyes. "Sleipnir..." she muttered, and six black wings sprouted from her back. Her barrier jacket was the only set of clothes which could manifest Sleipnir without being ruined. Despite the appearance of them floating behind her, the wings were actually sprouted from her back, which meant that anything covering her back would be shredded unless it was adapted for the growth of the wings.

Such as an open back gown... hm... Once she had the body to pull it off, there were a few pranks Naruto was interested in doing. Lots of people thought humanoid beings with feathery wings were angels, messengers of the gods... That'd lead to some hilarious pranks, she mused.

Naruto lifted off the ground slowly. "Don't you guys hold back! Don't worry about me, I got this!"

"I... Mistress, if at any point you should feel faint or the slightest discomfort, please stop immediately and come to me," Shamal said, sighing. "I suppose I can't stop you..."

"Great, then! Let's play flying tag!"

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen blinked. "Naruto, you're quite literally floating outside my office. An explanation wouldn't be remiss," the old man said, looking somewhat confused. "Did they teach you how to fly, finally?"

"It's complicated. I thought Signum or Shamal would've already informed you... though I guess they were pretty busy, what with training and all..." Naruto muttered. "Anyway, I'm a mage now! That's all really," Naruto said, shrugging. "Anyway, do you wanna come to dinner tonight? It's gonna be loads of people! And I've got to drop by the market anyway to pick up some extra things I wanted to try out," she added.

"And... you need my wallet to do it, don't you?" Sarutobi asked, dryly. "That's why you're inviting me."

Naruto snorted. "Old man, if I just wanted your wallet, I would've sat on your lap and pick-pocketed you when you weren't paying attention!" Naruto said, laughing as she did a small pirouette in mid air, clearly enjoying the third dimension added to her movement.

"Pickpocketing the Hokage? That is quite impossible, young lady," the stiff-looking jounin whose mission assignment Naruto had interrupted spoke.

"For most people, but he lets me do it," Naruto said, shrugging. "Because I know where he hides his porn!"

"Naruto! I told you that was a secret!" Sarutobi thundered, though being clearly flustered and hidding the beginnings of a smile took the scary levels down a few pegs.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, everyone knows you read porn in your office when you think nobody's watching," one of the genin said, looking completely serious. Ah, an Aburame. Clearly, theirs was the perfect dry delivery for jokes.

"Wait, that's true!?" the second boy of the team asked.

"Yes, it is true. The ANBU gossip," their teacher said, sighing.

"It was Mouse, wasn't it? I swear, I will throw him off a cliff," Sarutobi grumbled. "I'd throw him off the monument, but..."

"It was blown right the fuck up!" the second boy genin yelled, laughing roariously. "Sorry, sorry... But explosions are AWESOME!"

The girl on the team smacked him. "Stop that! No more exploding tags for you!"

"Aww..."

"Regardless... Hokage-sama, you were assigning us a mission..?" the team leader asked.

"Ah. Yes..." Sarutobi said, shaking his head.

"A secret mission?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. "Is it like that time you gave a nurse a mission to give you a lap dance?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"W-What!?" everyone else shouted in shock. Even the ANBU.

"First, it was a joke. Second, I was drunk. And third, she did it willingly!" Sarutobi replied, pointing a finger at Naruto. "I told you to never tell that to anyone!"

"Did you? I thought you told me not to tell Koharu or Danzo about it..." Naruto said. "Or was that the jockstrap incident?"

"... Jockstrap incident?" most of the genin team asked.

"What's a jockstrap?" the sole girl of the team asked, clearly more confused than the rest.

"No, the one I told you not to tell Koharu or Danzo about it was the one where Homura did, you know, that thing," Sarutobi said, waving his hand.

"Oh," Naruto gasped. "You mean that thing? Why shouldn't we tell everyone? It was awesome!"

"Because Homura said not to."

The genin team looked at their leader. Who took a moment to catch the Hokage's attention with a few fake coughs. "Mission, Hokage-sama?"

"Well, chunin, you have your mission, and if any of you speak of anything that has happened here, I'm sure you know it won't be pleasant."

"Wait... that was a chunin? I thought it was a jounin... I didn't know chunin could lead teams," Naruto said, tilting her head. "Should I have known?"

"Actually, chunin lead more teams than jounin do. Jounin are generally too valuable to 'waste' by putting them in command of genin cells, and at the same time, elite genin are just too valuable to waste on chunin, so it's a compromise. But for the most part, Konoha's forces are divided mostly into genin cells lead by chunin. Those are their captains, though, not their teachers like you'd see in an elite genin team."

Naruto hummed. "Didn't know that. Anyway, are you coming to dinner or not?"

"I'm really busy, but I'll clear out some space," the Hokage said, smiling. "Now, go before I change my mind and start punishing you now instead of telling embarrassing tales of you later."

Naruto chirped an affirmation and left.

A few seconds went by, and soon she was back, floating right beyond the window. "By the way, I kinda need money for the groceries and-"

Sarutobi sighed.

* * *

"Did someone set off an exploding tag in here?" Sarutobi asked as he wandered into the kitchen he by now knew well.

"Two, but to be fair, they were low powered ones," Zafira commented before shoving a large bag out of the way and picking up a second one. Picking up the first, he hoisted both up to his shoulders and then carried them halfway across the room, before unloading them on top of the counter, right next to the sink. He upended one of the bags over the sink and let a whole bunch of potatoes rain onto the sink, all with thudding sounds.

"I don't even want to know, do I?" Sarutobi asked. "Anyway, I brought this," he said, lifting the package he was carrying so it was at chest level for him. "I passed an ice cream shop in the way, and they insisted."

One of the perks of being a popular and beloved leader.

Zafira smiled. "Shove it into the freezer. Mistress still hasn't decided on dessert. Might be an ice cream cake, depending..."

"That sounds delicious! I'm sure I can figure out how to make one," Naruto said, waving her hand. "But you're not peeling potatoes right now, so get to it!"

"Well, I'll go mingle with the other guests, I gue-"

"You too, old man!" Naruto said, grinning.

"I suppose I can help," Sarutobi said, evenly, knowing it was a lost battle already to try to talk his way out of this one. To be fair, between himself and Zafira, the potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots were cleaned off their unsavory coverings fairly quickly. And despite her total lack of ability to use chakra, the fact that Naruto had been raised by ninja was quite noticeable in how she handled the knife she used to chop the potatoes into the proper shape she wanted them in.

Had anyone seen her cut in a seemingly careless way and at the blistering speeds she did, they'd have likely taken the knife away for fear of her hurting herself, but Sarutobi knew well enough that she had more experience cooking that way than even he himself did. The sweet potatoes followed, and then the carrots, and then she threw everything into a large pot. "Zafira, be a dear and put this over the fire, would you?"

And given that the pot was taller than she was, it was obvious why Zafira would need to be the one to move it. To the magically enhanced Guardian Beast, moving it was a cinch, and Sarutobi was reminded for an instant about how truly inhuman the Wolkenritter as a whole was. But of course, it'd be Naruto who'd surround herself with weird people...

"Okay, did Vita come here with the salmon, yet?" Naruto asked, tilting her head and looking at Zafira.

"She ran into a bit of trouble, but she'll be here shortly," Zafira informed, washing his hands and then drying them off with a rag before tossing it into the trash and pulling out a new one from one of the drawers close to the sink, which he handed to Sarutobi, who promptly dried off his hands.

"Well... we started early, so I guess it's okay..."

Sarutobi quietly decided to leave, lest he get dragged, once more, into being a kitchen helper. It was... actually really nice to see Naruto that energetic and moving so much. She was a much more welcome sight as a whirlwind of energy and sunshine than she'd been confined to a hospital bed.

* * *

Minutes later, Jiraiya was in the process of telling a wild tale to those gathered on the table while Sarutobi handled introductions of himself with the commanding officer of their extra dimensional visitors. Jiraiya had already sent a few toads as messengers, explaining the situation as best as possible, but it was still better to discuss things personally with the officer in charge.

Just a courtesy, from commander to commander, really, even if their titles were different.

There was actually a surprising amount of things they commiserated in, from unruly underlings to an annoying bureaucracy more interested in hiding their own wrongdoing than preventing someone else's. Really, though, most of the time was spent discussing how this situation would diplomatically affect Konoha and the Bureau.

When it came down to it, this was official contact. This was a meeting of two military authorities speaking face to face, and that carried more than a few diplomatic connotations. When it came down to it, however, the TSAB couldn't quite step in and integrate this world into their fold as an administered world. Lindy explained that it'd need a centralized government that the TSAB could negotiate with before they could even begin to open talks about joining the bureau at large, and Sarutobi himself had no real interest in joining a larger nation.

The Bureau's policy of non-interference was something he was glad for, since Sarutobi would be the first to tell you war with the TSAB would be bad business on every side. In turn, Lindy admitted that there were certain concerns she held about a society of ninja. Apparently, she had a somewhat... warped idea of what ninja were like. It seemed that the culture of one of the visitors' homeworlds had a very different idea of a ninja than what Sarutobi's world had crafted.

It hadn't taken long to convince her that ninja were more like all purpose mercenaries, what she called private military contractors, than just remorseless killers. They did a whole lot more than killing, after all. Sarutobi wisely decided to keep certain parts of their activities, such as torture, interrogation and organized thuggery, to himself. Really, he was no more proud of those activities than he imagined the admiral would be, but they were necessary to keep Konoha, and her inhabitants, safe.

Or at least, so he told himself.

Despite everything else, the Admiral seemed very understanding. She explained that while their culture had many things that opposed her sensibilities, she'd come across true barbarism which she hadn't been able to do anything about, and a great deal of undesirable societies. Non interference forced her to stomach many things that were several times harder to swallow than the practices of Konoha.

While it rankled him a bit to have his civilization compared to barbarism, Sarutobi couldn't help but wish the world wasn't this way, himself. After all, he wanted peace, perhaps more than any other. Wasn't that why he carried a big stick? He supposed that, in a world where everyone wasn't waiting for him to show his back to stab it, he could afford to be as idealistic and easy going as the Admiral seemed to think people should be.

It'd be nice, but it'd require that the entire world be peaceful. And in a world of paranoid assholes waiting to doublecross each other... it wasn't very likely. A damned shame, she agreed, but you've gotta work with what you've got.

"And that's basically why I am no longer allowed into the Land of Hot Water," Jiraiya finished.

"So much, over a little misunderstanding..?" Nanoha asked.

"I don't know how you can taste anything, with the amount of bullshit that just came out of your mouth," Arf commented, dryly.

Sarutobi snorted, as well.

"Language," Jiraiya said, wagging his finger. "There are children present!"

Lindy, however, had found the entire thing incredibly hilarious. Particularly because it reminded her of an incident between the Lieze twins and her son. And it seemed he remembered it too, as he had been red since the very moment the older man started to tell the story. For some reason, Yuuno was also completely red, though Lindy didn't quite know why.

Oh, well, she imagined everyone has an embarrassing story or two of something that happened in the hot springs.

And then the food came, and conversation was forgotten over the delicious smells.

Well, conversation hadn't really died, per se, it just shifted to a slew of different topics. Mostly, conversation seemed to drift to the topic of food and all things tangential to that. From the fact that apparently the entire Wolkenritter had been drafted to help in many ways, to the fact that Naruto had apparently decided that dessert would be kept secret, and had off handedly mentioned that Vita would be getting punished for accidentally blurting out a hint to it.

So far, all that they knew was that Naruto had baked a cake.

What kind of cake, though, was a legitimate topic of discussion, and Nanoha had displayed the fact that her family ran a popular café slash bakery by describing a great deal of different cakes and giving Naruto explanations when she asked, though she refused to give the details to the Midori-ya's secret recipes.

Ultimately, though, there was no real serious discussion to be had after dinner. Lindy merely asked a few questions, all seemingly innocuous, and the conversation continued in a more... pleasant tone after that. Over dessert, discussion was once more revived for a brief moment, but it died down pretty quickly, as it was clear that whatever it was that Lindy had been looking for just wasn't there.

* * *

Naruto was... anxious.

It was clear that she couldn't sit still, as she was constantly moving, one way or another. Whether it be moving her head slightly, or stamping her feet to a rhythm only she could hear, she was constantly moving. Her hands were either drawing patterns on the hard wood of the table or drumming to a beat present only in her mind. The conversation had turned... boring, and she had trouble following it.

Who cares about all that stuff? She didn't even hear what they were talking about. It seemed that nobody had noticed her frown, though, and she wound up bottling up her frustration until it finally burst, and she jumped out of her chair, knocking it to the floor, turning around and walking away, ignoring all the cries behind her. She moved at a brisk pace, though it wasn't long before someone caught up to her.

Vita put a hand on Naruto's arm, arresting her movement. "What's going on?" she asked, worry evident in her tone.

Naruto blinked, and looked at her hand. "I'm just... so bored!"

"... bored?" Vita asked, tilting her head. She was clearly confused, and Naruto made use of that moment to wrestle herself free.

"Yes! Bored!" Naruto cried, stomping the floor. "I want to move! I want to play some more tag, maybe hide and seek, something, anything! I want to move!"

"Hm... If I may interrupt," Yuuno had already earned himself quite a bit of respect from all of the Wolkenritter as well as Naruto himself, for his serious demeanor and the fact that he clearly knew more about the book than anyone else present. As such, Naruto actually turned to listen. "It seems like you're bursting with energy."

"Well, yeah, I am!" Naruto said, nodding eagerly. "The only times when I'm not itching is when I'm doing something! Just sitting there and talking, I can't stand it!"

It seemed that something had clicked. "I see," Lindy interrupted. "I think I know the feeling, and I think I know how to help you feel better."

"Mistress... has been too full of energy, as of late," Signum admitted.

Shamal nodded.

"Well, this would explain it neatly, then. So far, the only side effect of her fusion with the Defense Program seems to be her ability to use magic... but it appears we've discovered a new one. I am fairly sure that the reason Naruto can hardly sit still for any length of time is that she simply has too much power which she has no control over," Lindy explained, smiling. "Though... It's usually a mental pressure, and your body can be tired while your Linker Core is crying out for more action. Having an untiring body, as well, is..."

Sarutobi hummed. "It reminds me of cases where children have too much chakra and too little control. They become hyperactive and have trouble focusing or hyperfocus," he explained.

"Hm... That'd make sense. For all intents and purposes, Naruto's chakra coils are pumping her body full of mana," Shamal muttered. "It's not too farfetched to think that both conditions would combine."

"Explain it in shorter, quicker terms?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"You're trying to cram too much juice into too tiny a glass," Jiraiya supplied, "and it's trying to get out."

"Oh. Well... how do I get it out?" Naruto asked, tilting her head the other side.

"There are a couple of ways to fix it, really. You can wear a limiter or just... cast magic. A lot," Lindy said. "Normally, children who are too powerful are encouraged to use their boundless energy to train themselves, so we shoot two birds with one spell," she said. "Chrono, while not as bad as you, had the same problem in his youth, since he was a very powerful kid."

Nanoha laughed a little. "I wear a kind of limiter... I have Raising Heart permanently drain my magic a little so that I'm also constantly doing resistance training," she admitted, shamelessly. "It's a bit tough, sometimes."

"I was trained on how to handle my own power since I was very young," Fate said, shaking her head. "I don't have that issue despite my innate power," she confirmed.

"So you guys suffered from it, too?" Naruto asked.

Yuuno shook his head. "I was never powerful enough to warrant that," he admitted.

"Ferret boy, for all his flaws, gets by on sheer skill, not power," the other boy interjected. "I suppose I should introduce myself properly. I am Chrono Harlaown," he said.

Of course, Naruto knew of him, but she didn't quite know him, and the nature of the 'dinner party' hadn't been a good environment for introductions up until now. "Nice to meetcha! I'm Naruto!" Naruto said, grinning. "How was it for you?"

"I'm not quite as strong as either of those two, but I did have a lot of training... I'm sure Ferret Boy can imagine what kind of torture it was for me, since he's met the ones who trained me," Chrono mentioned, directing a knowing glance at Yuuno, who merely shivered. "Don't worry, they're not going to eat you literally," he added, as an afterthought.

Nanoha seemed confused. "What do you mean..?"

"Don't worry, we'll explain later," Chrono said, shaking his head. Later, of course, meant 'never'. "Basically, we've got two solutions right now. You either wear a limiter that will contain all that power... or we give you an environment in which you can give an outlet for your magic in a productive way."

"Meaning, training," Fate interjected, seeing the somewhat lost look Naruto had on her face. It seems that she'd been right on the money with her thought, as Naruto had indeed been lost, nodding in appreciation at Fate's short explanation.

"While your legal situation is, well, kind of a gigantic mess because the Wolkenritter have a very, very long criminal record... The TSAB is nothing if not practical, we can smooth things over," Lindy explained, taking a deep breath. "Well, I can get a limiter issued for you. The TSAB would be all too happy," Lindy commented. "Or... we can go with plan B. How do you feel about joining the TSAB outright?"

* * *

LE GASP!

The 'Villain' of the tale is joining the TSAB before getting Befriended? Shirley, this is not the time for jokes!

Well, I sure hope that jerk of an author has SOMETHING planned for a more interesting climax, else this might wind up being a very... anticlimactic finish. Then again, this IS a crossover between two series in which nothing can be resolved until one party is beaten up. Unfortunately, this isn't DragonBall, so that means that nobody will be taking their shirts off. Sorry, guys, but no topless Reinforce for you.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 18: Decisions Aren't Taken Lightly Or Quickly

* * *

Naruto frowned and tilted her head. "Join... the TSAB?" she asked, frowning... "I dunno."

"It's up to you, mistress. No matter what your choice is, we will support you to the very best of our ability," Signum interjected, bowing slightly.

"It's also up to you from my end, Naruto," Sarutobi added, nodding. "Whatever choice you make, you will find no objection from me."

"Here, as well. We will help you with your problem, regardless, it's just more convenient for everyone involved if you join the TSAB," Lindy explained, as simple as that.

"With all due respect," Chrono interrupted, "you cannot expect her to make such a decision so quickly."

"True," Lindy admitted.

"Not everyone has the circumstances we did," Fate commented, shaking her head, incidentally trying not to remember those circumstances. "It doesn't make that much of a difference, we'll still be friends, we'll visit when we can."

Naruto hummed.

Chrono sighed. "Regardless of everything else, she should know what she is getting into before she signs up. Both for hers and our own good. When it comes down to it, the Bureau is a military organization that requires heavy discipline and the ability to obey orders that sometimes we are opposed to. I don't think that she has the requisite character to join such an organization."

"Hm... What do you mean, kid?" Jiraiya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think I get it," Arf said, frowning. "She's a free spirit, wild and untameable, isn't she?"

"I'm a what now?" Naruto asked, clearly confused.

"If the way the seal works is as Jiraiya told us... then she's holding back the Defense Program with nothing but the strength of her will," Chrono commented. "High willpower is commendable, but..."

At this moment, Sarutobi nodded. "An indomitable will... it's a common trait of her clan, as a whole," he commented, off handedly. "I can see how that'd become problematic with a military organization of the size this TSAB appears to be."

"Correct. To you, she is unique, a special person whose quirks and particularities you know. You can handle her. However, to TSAB high command, she'd be just another agent, depending on her specialization," Chrono confirmed. "It's an... irresponsible thing to do. Fate, Nanoha, you've received training from the TSAB over the summer. And you have gotten to know Naruto. Tell me, given what you know, what would her reaction to a drill sargent be?" Chrono asked.

Fate and Nanoha both looked down at the ground, somewhat innocently.

"Uwa... Are those the guys that scream at you a lot and wake you super early and stuff?" Naruto asked, looking curious.

"Yes, pretty much. Most of the time, though, they're telling me I'm wearing my uniform wrong," Fate commented.

"Which wouldn't be a problem if you'd just wear a regulation skirt," Chrono said, shaking his head.

"But... You're not wearing a regulation uniform," Fate said, frowning a bit. "And..." however, she blushed and didn't give a voice to what was probably the real reason why she wore such skirts.

"But I did wear a regulation uniform until I made enforcer," Chrono replied, shaking his head. "We get special privileges, once we prove good enough to merit them. You can go back to miniskirts after you make Enforcer, as well... probably won't get many complaints..."

Fate blushed slightly. "Form should come from function," she said, somewhat stiffly.

"I don't get it... I wear long skirts and those don't bother me..." Nanoha muttered, looking somewhat confused.

"Really? I can't do it... I have to wear short shorts or a short skirt..." Naruto commented, looking somewhat confused herself. "Whenever I've got something longer I just feel stuffy, like I can't move because I'm afraid I'm gonna tear it apart, or that it's gonna get caught on something... Loose fabric tends to be problematic..."

"That's your ninja mindset speaking," Sarutobi idly commented. "We're kind of hard wired to maximize function over form, which is why you only see eye catching clothing on ninja who want to attract the eye, so high level ones like myself and Jiraiya tend to wear bright and colorful clothing; everyone can recognize us when we show up."

"Much like my own attire, it's designed to raise morale of your allies and diminish the enemy, am I correct?" Chrono asked. "In my case, I am a recognized Enforcer with experience, and in yours... Well, our intelligence has brought up a few interesting titles bestowed upon certain members of your military..."

"Indeed. It's a pretty basic concept," Sarutobi admitted. "Speaking about basic concepts, your training is not over, young lady, and while I understand your circumstances, you're going to have to make up for all those missed sessions," he added, turning to Nanoha.

"Training..?" Yuuno and Chrono chorused.

"Oh... I... didn't tell you guys, did I?" Nanoha asked, having the grace to blush in embarrassment. "Naruto-chan recommended me, and Sarutobi-dono was nice enough to-"

"Oh, no, don't think I'm doing it out of the kindness of my heart. Truly, your talent and dilligence has more than earned at least this much dedication to teach you," Sarutobi interrupted.

"I'll explain later," Nanoha said, shaking her head and interrupting Yuuno's incoming queries.

"So... basically, I'd have to be in a stuffy military thingie? That'd be no fun at all..." Naruto said, pouting. "I don't think I wanna join if that's the case."

"That's a shame. Contrary to the Enforcer here's beliefs, I think you'd do rather well. Discipline can be learned," Lindy said, idly, glancing at her son for an instant.

"All things considered, I have actually thought of another way which would bypass such problems. While I don't believe that Miss Naruto could make for a good soldier, that does not mean that she can't join the TSAB in a certain capacity," Chrono explained.

"Are you thinking of a non combat role, like me?" Yuuno asked, looking confused. "Wouldn't that defeat the point?"

"Not quite. One does not have to be trained by the TSAB, or to even adhere to most of our rules and regulations, if one doesn't serve as a soldier. Hiring private military contractors in special circumstances isn't unheard of," Chrono spoke.

Lindy hummed. "You wish to have her sign a standby contract?" Lindy asked.

"Precisely," Chrono replied.

"Standby contract?" Jiraiya asked, taking the doubt that was on everyone's mind and voicing it.

"It's the simpler term for the contract that the TSAB signs with certain parties," Chrono began, before he was interrupted.

"To put it in simpler terms, it's the contract we sign with mercenaries and the like in order to resolve conflicts with them in peaceful, nonviolent and hopefully less expensive ways," Lindy cut off Chrono knowing full well that her audience included at least one person who wouldn't understand it in the terms Chrono would put it. One of the unfortunate aspects of her son's sense of professionalism was that he forgot there were people who weren't as good at expanding their vocabulary as he was.

"What are the terms of such a contract?" Sarutobi asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Rather simple, actually. What we ask for is that you don't engage in criminal activity according to our laws and that you accept the jobs we send your way. There are actually... many reasons why we hire PMCs," Lindy commented, her smile slightly strained.

"Of course. As you might have imagined, we don't quite have that problem," Sarutobi commented, chuckling slightly. "Sometimes, being more transparent in our dealings affords us more freedom than hiding our actions."

"Honesty is a double edged sword, it has its benefits and its problems," Lindy replied, evenly. "However, at this moment, it is necessary to put our best foot forward, no? Lying wouldn't be beneficial to anyone here. A mage of Naruto's apparent power... We can't quite ignore it. If Nanoha and Fate hadn't agreed to join, I'd have had them sign such a contract, as well. We'd much rather have people like them on our side."

"Really?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes," Lindy said, nodding. "I'm rather glad you chose to join. You were impressive then, and your skills have only increased since."

"This is all too complicated," Naruto said, shaking her head. "Knights, what do you think I should do?"

The four knights, stoically awaiting their mistress' choice, were a bit surprised at being put on the spot.

Signum was the first to speak. "The TSAB focuses primarily on Mid Childan magic, does it not?" she asked, looking at Lindy.

"Primarily, yes, though users of the Belkan style aren't particularly rare," Lindy answered.

"I see... In that case, I'd say, the training that they can offer you shouldn't be much more than what we could, Mistress. This choice is yours, and my opinion is that you should go with what you wish."

Shamal nodded. "I agree. Training, in and of itself, is something that we can provide, should you will it. We can't, however, provide you with the support infrastructure that the TSAB can."

"I don't think it's a good idea," Vita said, crossing her arms. "We don't have good memories of tangling with the TSAB. I think this is the first time, ever, that they've attempted diplomacy with us." From her emphatic tone, it was clear she felt strongly about this.

Zafira, however, seemed much more calm than her, and put a hand on her shoulder. "I am... unsure, as well. Despite our past experience, they've behaved honorably and honestly. I am... ambivalent to the idea. Truth be told, wherever mistress leads, I shall follow, and it makes no difference to me if she wears an uniform or if she is a wanted criminal."

"The main benefit offered by us joining them... is the military training," Signum said. "Not the teaching of actual magic itself."

"Think about it like this... it's no different than it'd be if you joined the Konoha Ninja Corps.," Shamal explained.

"Just a quick question, but... You have no objections to the application of lethal force, am I right?" Yuuno asked, turning to the Hokage and Jiraiya, who were looking at the scene, both deep in thought.

"Konoha, in particular, frowns upon unnecessary lethal force," Sarutobi said, evenly.

"I imagine our definition of what's 'necessary' and yours, however... are a bit different," Jiraiya added, somewhat stiffly. "It's a bit sad, really..."

"The TSAB frowns upon lethal force entirely," Chrono spoke. "Fe- Yuuno brought up a very good point. While for us, it is relatively simple to limit our magic to stunning, without such an ability it'd be much harder to take your targets alive. I understand your circumstances. However, due to that specific ability, it is expressly forbidden to utilize lethal force without authorization."

Lindy nodded. "Truth be told, occassions which necessitate... such extreme measures have, as a matter of fact, happened. However, they're rare and it's unlikely for you to ever be deployed in such a mission unless you're cleared for it."

Nanoha and Fate looked somewhat shaken, as they looked up at Lindy. "So, we could..."

"No," Lindy said, shaking her head. "Fate can take a psychological exam once she makes Enforcer, to apply for a license for terminations. However... I don't recommend doing it. While you'll receive an increased pay... it's not worth it. It never is," Lindy said, shaking her head.

"Oh... speaking from experience?" Jiraiya commented, raising an eyebrow.

Lindy said nothing.

"Uhm... Jiraiya-dono, you've killed before, right?" Nanoha asked, turning to him.

"... You could say that, yes," Jiraiya replied, evenly. "Why, you wanna sit down with me one night and talk to all of them?"

"That bad?" Yuuno asked.

Jiraiya shook his head.

"Take a few days to think about it," Lindy said, finally turning back to Naruto. "Until then, the best I can offer you is maybe a guided tour of our ship, perhaps a few more explanations on our rules, laws, regulations and doctrines, so that you know us a bit better, and can make a more informed choice."

"That sounds fun, actually," Naruto said, nodding. "Okay... so... sleepover time!"

"I suppose I should return to the shi-"

"Sleepover time!" Naruto repeated.

"We have enough rooms. It's late," Shamal said, "don't try to dissuade her... It's pointless."

"Really, we shouldn't-"

Naruto walked up to the speaker, one Sarutobi Hiruzen, who froze on the spot. "I live in a mansion in which there are twelve bedrooms, plus the Master Bedroom. Of those, six are guest rooms prepared for three people to comfortably sleep in. Normally, only three or two rooms are occupied at night. What's the point of having such a big house if I never use it? Besides, tomorrow will be the day when the workers show up to start actually making our pool, and you have to pay for that."

"Why do I have to pay for your pool?" Sarutobi asked, somewhat confused.

"It was the deal. You bought those swimsuits for Signum and Shamal, and if you want to see them using those, then you'll pay for the pool, too," Naruto said.

"Mistress... I don't want to wear that-" Shamal said.

"You will wear it because it looks good on you, you fashion sense deprived nurse! Seriously, what kind of nurse wears a skirt that goes down to her knees?! Madness, I tell you! Pure madness!"

"Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling..?" Yuuno wondered.

"I don't know why, but for once, I sympathize with you..." Chrono muttered.

* * *

Despite their bad feelings, nothing much happened at night. Other than the fact that they'd been forced to share a room. Apparently, Lindy thought it'd be funny.

The next morning, everyone was astonished by the expediency of Ninja Workers. The fact that there were six men dressed like stage hands standing line in front of a man wearing the same outfit, except in red, was surprising. But no, that wasn't the really weird thing. The weird thing was that they looked at the hole in the ground Naruto had made not too long ago, decided that it wasn't deep enough, and, after a series of synchronized handsigns, made it a whole lot deeper. And cubical.

"Men! Clones!"

And then the six became eighteen, and chaos started.

Despite the lack of... potency the grand majority displayed, Chrono was truly marvelling at the displays of versatility. Elemental Magic wasn't quite up to this level, and they couldn't command the elements in the way these men were. It seemed that they not only could control it so it would move, they could also do other things that were quite ridiculous. Like walking on the sides of the hole taking care to not leave footsteps on the 'loose' soil. Oh, the soil also wasn't loose. It didn't take them long to continue.

They seemed to pour a sustance all around the dirt 'walls' that quickly solidified. Chrono hadn't even seen the two who'd put the diving board or the night lights. He was wondering what the builders were actually using... It couldn't be concrete, it couldn't solidify or dry that fast... and yet it clearly had, and it looked like concrete. Painting it was also a flash, and Chrono was sure that was actually water resistant paint.

Fortunately, it seemed like the way they filled it made a lot more sense. The six men gathered together to use an elemental technique that created a great deal of water. Given that the pool wasn't tremendously huge, it wasn't too farfetched to think such a thing could be done. Still, it was a twenty meter pool that was two and a half meters deep at the bottom and half a meter deep at the most shallow parts. Considering they'd built it in six hours, Chrono was impressed.

"... Huh. That was insanely fast."

And they'd finished just as the sun began shining at its strongest, roughly around noon.

"They were a bit slower than the norm, but they do great work," Sarutobi commented.

"... That was SLOW!?" Nanoha shouted, clearly shocked beyond belief.

"Well, yes, but doing it much faster than that would've made it sloppy," Sarutobi commented, shaking his head. "And they're the only ones who have a Ninja Plumber."

"There was a ninja plumber? They did plumbing here?" Yuuno asked, shocked himself.

"Oh, yes," Sarutobi said. "Their leader, the man in red, was a Ninja Plumber," he commented. "An old friend, actually. Now... There is a pool."

"Pool party!" Naruto yelled.

* * *

Chrono and Yuuno finally realized what their ill feelings came from. Though, arguably, it was much worse for Chrono than it was for Yuuno.

The reasons why... well, were quite obvious. Despite all of his training that demanded that he remain stoic and in control of his emotions, Chrono couldn't help the outburst. "Mom, what the hell!"

Because seriously, what the hell!

"What... is it too much?" Lindy asked, tilting her head to the side in a faux cute fashion. Going for cute... yeah, sure. The problem was that Lindy was going for cute while wearing what amounted to two square centimeters of fabric over her body. At least, it matched the color of her hair, and from behind, it looked like it covered well enough. Her hair, that is. Because Chrono didn't even want to know if the thong his mother was wearing revealed every part of her buttocks or not.

The fact that her top was straining to hold her impressive breasts in place was already enough. He'd had to smack Ferret Boy twice already, from the shocked expressions the boy directed at his mother. "Yes! Yes it is too much!"

"Well... it was the only suit that'd fit me," Lindy said, shrugging in almost apologetical fashion.

Following after Lindy were two others who caused jaws to drop. Apparently, there was a bargain sale on 'almost-not-there' swimsuits, because the two adult females of the Wolkenritter wore identical swimsuits, in peach pink and crimson red. Jiraiya approved, if his ecstatic shouts were anything to go by, and the Hokage had a strange grin on his face.

Chrono and Yuuno cursed their puberty stricken bodies. Fortunately, they weren't in some sort of comedy series, otherwise, Chrono was certain their noses would be bleeding or they'd have popped titanic boners that would be incredibly noticeable through their swimming trunks.

"Well... it's not the beach, but let's have fun anyway!" Lindy commanded, smiling widely.

* * *

Volleyball was intense when played in a pool, simply because you were less likely to hurt yourself since you didn't land on hard floor or soil or even sand, instead, soft water would break your fall. So people who'd often restrain themselves out of fear of getting hurt went all out. Fortunately, the pool had a very slope, which allowed everyone to play somewhat fairly.

Now, that was normal volleyball... halfway through the game, though, everyone remembered that this was a game being played by mages and ninja, and it just went to hell from there. Whether it be flying to spike a ball that'd gone too high, using a ninja technique to duplicate oneself to form an impenetrable barrier or a variety of other mundane applications for techniques not designed to be used that way, let's just say that things got heated. Well, up until Vita decided enough was enough and showed them why they should've stuck to normal Volleyball when she whipped out Graf Eisen and spiked the ball so hard it actually buried itself on the somewhat-still-loose dirt next to the pool. The ball exploded.

"Sorry, I missed," Vita said, unapologetically.

* * *

Afternoon eventually rolled around, and the high temperatures of Konoha began to wane, leading to people slowly moving out of the pool and taking to sunbathing. The fact that the sun wasn't directly overhead and wasn't painfully bright anymore most likely helped, as any earlier most likely would've resulted in painful sunburn. Still, Jiraiya apparently always had his own brand of sun tanning lotion, and high quantities at that, on standby, which proved extremely useful.

The faces Yuuno made when Lindy asked him to rub it on her back were hilarious. Chrono's almost made Naruto bust a rib. However, Nanoha and Fate were more entertained by the sheer disappointment that radiated off the two perverted old men, both of whom had been flatly rejected not just by Lindy, but also by Shamal and Signum. Admittedly, both Shamal and Signum gave a very convincing reason.

Naruto would punish them if she was not the one to rub lotion on them.

"The only one allowed to touch my knights, is myself!" she declared, glaring at both men. "And each other, but that's kind of a given," she added as an afterthought.

It didn't help that, as a method for revenge on the perverted old men, both Shamal and Signum had cranked up the erotic undertones of the moans they made as Zafira was ordered by Naruto to perform the task at hand. She would've done it herself, but she was currently, along with Fate, trying to get a single point past Nanoha. Of course, the moans flew right over the three girls still playing. The boys, however, were not so lucky.

Chrono, in particular, had taken to sitting in a particular way.

Finally, Nanoha missed a step in the process of asskickery and let the ball pass by her, marking the final point. "Forty three to one," Vita commented, a somewhat amused smile on her face. "You guys suck. I guess that you both look the same and play exactly as terribly," she added.

"That's mean," Nanoha commented, frowning. "Besides, at least they didn't cheat."

"It's not cheating if everyone's doing it," Vita said, shrugging.

"Anyway... There's still one more thing I want to do..." Naruto said, grinning.

It didn't take long for the three girls to climb out of the pool, helped onto the cement that covered about a metre in every direction around it by Vita, and the three sat down on the still warm poolside, their legs all submerged. "Are you feeling better, Naruto-chan?" Nanoha asked, a curious tone in her voice.

"It's not... as bad," Naruto commented, sighing, "but it still itches. I think physical exercise won't be enough..."

"Well... we have our devices now..." Nanoha commented. "And... since you and your friends have gone out of your way to help us... Maybe we can help you in return?"

Fate blinked. "Nanoha, you don't mean..."

"Yes. The least we can do is help Naruto-chan with this," Nanoha said, nodding solemnly. "What do you think, Fate-chan?"

"I... agree," Fate said, after a few moments' deliberation.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"Well... I was thinking... there's a... probably way easier way to get you to release a lot of power very quickly," Nanoha said, smiling widely. "At least on the short term."

Taking Naruto's questioning glance as a prod to elaborate, Fate sighed. "Nanoha means... fighting. The quickest way to release your excess power is most likely to use it. Do you want to try it?"

"Eeeh!?"

"Huh. That actually... makes a lot of sense," Vita admitted, out loud.

"It does, doesn't it?" Nanoha said, grinning slightly. "And we can also show you what magical fighting is like! So if you don't like it..."

Naruto seemed contemplative. "But... you're experienced, right?"

"Not really," Nanoha admitted. "I've been in a few fights and I've had some instruction, but I mostly taught myself through training," she said, shrugging.

"I've had considerably more in depth instruction than her, but... in terms of experience, I only have a slight edge," Fate said.

"I really want to try teaching someone! I was actually thinking of joining the instructor corps for the air forces," Nanoha continued, looking at Naruto almost pleadingly. "Plus, it's also really convenient for us, since we haven't really tested our devices yet and we don't want to put too big a strain on them yet... So... what do you say? Do you want to try it?"

"It's a good idea, but what makes you think we can't do it ourselves?" Vita asked, glaring at Nanoha and crossing her arms. It was a bit less than intimidating given that she was shorter than Nanoha by a noticeable margin.

"Tell me, Vita-chan, could you strike at Naruto-chan?" Nanoha asked, curiously.

"I..." Vita froze. "Shit. You've got a point."

"Language," Naruto said, glaring at Vita. "One more tip for the swear jar and you'll be spending the rest of the night in the doghouse!"

"We don't have a dog house," Vita commented, looking somewhat confused.

"It's a figure of speech," Naruto said, pouting at her.

"Well, do you think any of the other three could?" Fate asked.

Vita contemplated the situation. Signum would rather cut her own hand off than point Laevateinn at her mistress, Zafira would rather punch himself repeatedly than even bare a single fang at her and Shamal felt guilty inflicting random violence on strangers, much less their mistress. To put it simply, none of the Wolkenritter could really take on the responsibility of being a real 'trainer' to Naruto, as they wouldn't be able to be tough when the situation demanded. Hell, Vita wasn't sure she could stand watching Naruto being utterly exhausted from training without trying to help in some way.

Not given the bad memories that it brought back... Despite everything else, she preferred the whirlwind of inexhaustible energy. Definitely.

"That sounds fun," Naruto said.

"Great! Then... since you invited us to your home, we'll invite you to the ship!" Nanoha said, eagerly.

"That way, we can avoid collateral," Fate said, nodding. She too was eager, though she showed it much less than her more exuberant friend.

"Collateral damage is bad," Naruto said, nodding in understanding. "Okay... that sounds fun."

* * *

The tour would have to wait. Naruto took a deep breath of artificial air. It was suspiciously similar to Konoha's air. A bit... cleaner, perhaps, and she couldn't smell the usual smells, most of which were feces from forest dwelling animals. She was surrounded by a fake forest, and she couldn't hear the sound of the birds chirping, the small woodland critters moving about from tree to tree... It was slightly creepy for someone who'd lived in a place surrounded by forest to be in one that was so obviously fake.

Or at least, it would be, if Naruto wasn't a lot more concerned with other things at the time.

"You can bring out your Barrier Jacket on demand, right?" Nanoha asked, as she floated a few metres above Naruto, her own eyes closed as she seemed to be trying to find some sort of calm meditative state.

"I think so," Naruto said, nodding. A moment of thought later, Naruto's clothes had been replaced by an all too familiar ensemble in mostly black. Naruto took a few moments to test how restrictive her clothes were and, despite looking like they should restrict her movement by how much they stuck to her body, the cloth of her jacket was more than flexible enough to allow her full range of mobility. "That should do it."

"That's great. Now... we'll start off slow, and we'll increase the speed and power slowly. When you can't keep up anymore, we'll know where you stand, and that way, we can actually have a fair fight. I've got a temporary limiter I can use so I don't need to worry about holding back," Nanoha admitted, knowing full well that flat out telling someone you were going to hold back on their account was less insulting than pretending you were fighting at your best when you were not. Mostly because Miyuki kept complaining about Kyouya taking it easy on her in training. "We'll fight on the air."

"Sleipnir," Naruto muttered, and she felt her power coalesce behind her. Gravity lost its hold, and she rose.

"Very well... just as a short test, I will cast a few spells at you. Can you create a barrier?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes," Naruto confirmed. "Panzerschild," she muttered to herself, holding a hand in front of herself. It didn't take long for a silverish, almost white, triangle to manifest in front of her hand. It was that glyph which was the absolute proof of the fact that she was using the Belkan system, as it used triangles more than anything else. However, it seemed that instead of remaining a purely ethereal, magical barrier, the spell Naruto had used conjured an actual shield, a disk of a material suspiciously similar to steel. Naruto seemed to be able to hold onto it as if it were weightless.

"That's... a strange way to use a barrier spell," Nanoha commented as Naruto seemed to play with her new shield.

"Really? Having a shield is kind of common sense to me," Naruto commented, idly. "I mean, how else do you expect me to block stuff?"

"Like this. Raising Heart, Round Shield," Nanoha commanded. Her device replied and obeyed, and she pointed it forward, where a pink disk of clear Midchildan design appeared, clearly invoked by her spell. "See? It's a one-time-use spell, and the barrier is taken down once I don't need it anymore." Which she proved by dispelling it.

"But making a barrier every time would be time consuming, and what if you get caught just as you drop it or something?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"Well, keeping it up when it is receiving continued attacks is kind of a big drain, so..." Nanoha explained, shrugging since giving the end of the explanation would be pointless. "Anyway, what works for you works for you, so don't feel pressured to do things my way. We'll test to see if it actually works right for you, though."

"Sure," Naruto said. "Anyway... hit me!"

"Put your shield forward, I'll aim for it. It's a bit on the small side, though... Raising Heart, we'll start with a single bullet."

"Yes, my master," the device replied. "Axel Shooter?"

"Axel Shooter!"

Naruto held her shield forward and looked at the pink sphere that was hurled her way. It crashed against the shield with no issue.

"How's the drain?" Nanoha asked.

"Didn't feel anything," Naruto replied.

"Okay... time for a more impressive barrage. Give me a telepathic shout when you feel your shield's about to break, okay?" Nanoha asked.

Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Axel Shooter," Nanoha commanded.

Much more enthusiastically than before, her device confirmed, and two bullets shot towards Naruto, who intercepted them with the shield. Then three. Then four. Then five. Then six. All the way to a dozen at once.

"Still nothing," Naruto commented. "Feeling fine."

Nanoha nodded. "Let's move in to the artillery, then. Raising Heart..."

The device complied. "Yes, Master. Divine Buster," it preempted.

"Divine..."

Naruto's grip on her shield tightened.

"...BUSTER!"

The pink beam of doom crashed against the silvery shield, which held fast.

"Well... I felt that," Naruto admitted. "I don't think I could take a dozen of those..."

"It's good to recognize your limits. Now, we'll test your powerlevel. The room should be able to give us an accurate reading of your power based on a spell you cast, so... try to cast the most powerful spell you can think of... And not at me!"

Naruto laughed a little. "Okay, I'll try..."

Knowing the source of her answers, Naruto drew into herself to search for the correct spell to use to gauge her powerlevel. Or rather, she just asked inside her head, and NachtWal provided.

The blonde sighed, before raising both of her hands up. "Huh. You wouldn't happen to be using a Genkidama, would you?" Nanoha asked, dubiously.

"... A what now?" Naruto asked, blinking in confussion.

"Nevermind," Nanoha said, shaking her head. "One day..." she muttered to herself, before returning her attention to Naruto.

A black sphere started to grow on top of Naruto's right palm, stopping once it was the size of a tennis ball, which she quickly bent a bit so that the sphere rested in between both of her palms. "Bigger..." she muttered to herself, her hands drawing away as the ball expanded all of a sudden, reaching the size of a football ball, "bigger," she muttered again, and threw her arms vertically upwards, shoving the ball above her entirely as it suddenly expanded again, roughly to the size of a large beach ball, "bigger!" she demanded, and it grew once more, this time its diameter roughly matching Naruto's height.

"Huh. That's sort of impressive," Nanoha admitted. "And kind of scary..."

There was a flash of white, and the ball once more expanded, for an instant being several times Naruto's height in diameter, before it began to shrink rapidly, until it was no bigger than something Naruto could hold in her hands comfortably. Which she did, holding it in front of herself. "Bijuudama!"

And then, Naruto's hands opened, unleashing all the power the sphere contained in the form of a reddish-black beam that tore through the sky and the fake trees until it impacted the ground. The explosion blinded and deafened both Naruto and Nanoha, causing them both to land, rubbing at their eyes and ears for a few seconds until it passed.

"That was impressive!" Nanoha said, grinning. "It's way more powerful than anything I could do," she added as an afterthought.

"It's crazy powerful, is what it is. Whatever that was... it's enough to rank you SS, at least on raw power alone. I wouldn't be surprised to see that spell vaporize a mountain or two on its way," their operator commented.

"Sweet merciful sage... that was a Bijuudama," a by now well known interruptor to radio chat interjected.

"A bijuuwhatnow?" someone, probably Vita, asked.

"A bijuudama. Basically, you know how I told you the tailed beasts are really, really scary? Well, that's what they do. That's how the weakest one blew up the Hokage monument. It's not a spell so much as it is an innate ability that they have... And... I just saw a human do it."

"Well, we're missing an acre of forest just from the beam itself," Nanoha commented, flying up to survey the damage. "The less said about ground zero, the better," she added.

"Uwa... that was THAT powerful..?" Naruto asked.

"Well... all that's left is to test your speed, but the best way for that is to test both your speed of movement and reaction at the same time... So... with all things said and done, let's spar, Naruto-chan!" Nanoha said, her grip on Raising Heart tightening.

For some reason, Naruto had the odd feeling that Nanoha was... enjoying it? Well... maybe fighting was a lot more fun than Naruto thought it was. She'd have to see.

* * *

Semana Santa, semana santa, Semana Santa... Let me sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep forevaaaaaah.

By the by, I can't reply to reviews if you don't allow me to. So either sign in or stop blocking my pms, doods, 'cause otherwise, I can't answer your queries.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 19: Everything's Going Krillin

* * *

"Dodge!"

"Divine Buster!"

Really, Device and Mistress were too good a match, since they could predict each other perfectly, with a level of coordination seen only in long time partners. Whether it be the casting of a spell or deployment of a barrier, or even a quick move out of the way when necessary, they worked as a team like few others could claim.

Takamachi Nanoha and Raising Heart Excellion could be called the very definitive pairing.

And Uzumaki Naruto was learning why first hand, as she moved away from an incoming pink beam, a beam which continued on to vaporize a tree behind her. Naruto knew she had barely dodged it, and that the only reason she had was because Nanoha had actually called out to her to do exactly that. It was at least a refreshing thought that, even though Nanoha was being brutal in certain ways, her concept of holding back was less 'fight like a blind chipmunk' and more 'help your enemy so it's not so boring a fight'.

Knowing that Nanoha needed a moment to recover after any spell she cast, Naruto thrust her hand forward and a red triangular glyph formed in front of her. The already familiar shooting spell which was quite possibly the spell she knew best at the moment instantly sent half a dozen daggers flying towards Nanoha, whose eyes widened at the quick counterattack. She brought up a barrier, since the daggers moved too fast to dodge manually and Raising Heart still needed an instant or two more before it could Flash Move her out of the way.

The daggers clashed against the barrier, barely slowing down as they pierced right through it, but the moment they needed to do that allowed Raising Heart to have enough time to throw Nanoha out of the way. "Flash Move," Raising Heart called, and Nanoha was then safe.

Knowing that Raising Heart could not quickly chain those, because Nanoha had explained it before hand, Naruto brought one of her hands forward, wracking her head for a thought on the spell to use on just such an occassion... she needed something to keep her still... bind, bind, bind... right there! Chains burst from Naruto's hand, blue in color, wreathed in pale blue flame. Chakra Chains, huh? Well, she'd rename the spell to Mana Chain, since it wasn't quite chakra. The six chains that Naruto had casted all shot directly towards Nanoha in an arching fashion, coming at her from all sides.

Nanoha seemed to have expected something like that, however, and instead of trying to block them, Nanoha merely waved Raising Heart in front of her, leaving six pink bullets in front of her. Another motion with Raising Heart had them flying towards the chains, which had already covered most of the distance. The spheres clashed with the chains and destroyed them, stopping the spell entirely. "I can do silent spells, too," Nanoha remarked.

"I didn't even know it was possible, but apparently I can do it," Naruto said, shrugging.

"Also, I actually cast seven bullets," Nanoha added, helpfully.

Naruto's eyes widened and she turned around, holding her shield up to block a bullet that... wasn't there. However, there were four which hit her on the back, which Nanoha cast immediately upon Naruto turning around.

"Don't believe everything I say!" Nanoha called as Naruto stumbled forward, almost losing her grip on her flying spell. "Pay attention!"

Frowning, Naruto turned to glare at Nanoha. "You lied to me," she said, pouting and crossing her arms. "That's not fair!"

"Well, we ARE fighting. We're not supposed to be nice or fair to each other," Nanoha explained, scratching the back of her neck. "Also, we really shouldn't be bantering, either... it's bad etiquette," Nanoha explained. "And it gives me enough time to charge up my next spell."

"You need to charge up spells?" Naruto asked, blinking.

"Single spells, no. Combinations?" Nanoha explained. "Well, that requires a bit more preparation. Particularly between two spells that were never meant to be used together this way."

"Which way?" Naruto asked, genuinelly curious.

"You'll see. Divine..." Nanoha said, pointing her trusted device at Naruto, forming a glowing pink sphere at its now truly spearlike tip.

"I'll just dodge or block that easily," Naruto said, frowning. They were too far for that attack to work. It moved too slowly to be used from several dozen meters' distance.

"Flash Move," Raising Heart intoned.

"Oh cra-"

"BUSTER!"

And Nanoha finished her attack standing right behind Naruto, her staff pointed at the back of Naruto's head. It struck unimpeded, pushing Naruto quite a ways away before detonating in a gigantic pink explosion. "I told you to pay attention," Nanoha chastised, frowning as she crossed her arms and tapped Raising Heart against her bicep. "And I know that didn't knock you out," she said, looking at the massive dust cloud. "Otherwise you'd have fallen already."

"That hurt! That really, really hurt!" Naruto said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Your barrier jacket is amazing, though," Nanoha commented. "It has a very high level of defense if it could mitigate the damage from a direct hit that much..." she continued, seeing Naruto's confusion at the thought. "Or... did you put up a barrier at the last second?"

"I don't know," Naruto admitted. "I was in kind of a panic right then," she said, shrugging.

"Anyway, let's continue. I'm going to be increasing the level a bit more. I know you're holding back a lot, yourself... you don't need to fear hurting me," Nanoha said, seemingly stretching a little. "Trust me, I'm a tough girl!"

Naruto nodded and took a deep breath. She'd actually been warring with her instincts, for quite a bit, because all of herself was telling her to just turn tail and run, because this was a predator she couldn't fight off. She wasn't yet quite used to being able to defend herself with any kind of ability. "I'm ready!" she called.

"Good. Now, let us begin fighting for real," Nanoha said, leaning forward and shooting towards Naruto at a ridiculous speed.

Naruto, who had not expected the fight to be taken to melee range, was surprised, and could barely bring up her shield to stop Raising Heart from bashing her skull in. However, Nanoha used that as leverage to vault over her. Naruto used Nanoha's own momentum to fling her off at the end of the movement, lest Nanoha wind up right behind her... but then she was introduced to the fact that Nanoha wouldn't charge ahead without some sort of plan or trick. That took the shape of three pink bullets. Yelping, Naruto once more shoved her shield in the way, blocking all three.

"Never lose track of your opponent!" Nanoha barked, and Naruto's eyes widened as she saw a pink band closing in on her from all sides.

"Circle Bind," Raising Heart intoned.

The band suddenly closed in and pressed tight against Naruto's body, soon becoming pink beams of energy that seemed more solid and durable than anything other, holding her arms tightly against her body. Naruto could even feel how they clamped down on her magic, preventing her from using even the spells that didn't quite need her hands being free. Naruto's eyes widened. She was caught..!

...

Again.

After all this time... even after she gained all this power... she was caught again!? Was she still that weak? Could she still not defend herself!? It wasn't fair... why did it always go the same way!? She couldn't... couldn't, and wouldn't, allow it to happen again.

"I refuse... I refuse to let it happen... I refuse!" Naruto yelled, glaring at Nanoha.

"You can't get out, can you? Then I guess it's my victory," Nanoha said, a smile on her face. "It's your first time, so it's normal that-"

Naruto growled. "I am Uzumaki Naruto! Ruler of the Night Sky! I REFUSE TO BE HELPLESS! Azurn Flamme!"

Nanoha felt the surge of power, more than she saw it, when it shattered the bindings she'd put on Naruto. "Wha..."

"I won't let you..!"

Pale blue flames exploded around Naruto for an instant before becoming more subdued. They continued to lick around their summoner, as Naruto's eyes focused on Nanoha, the glare intensified a thousand times.

"Naruto-chan... your eyes... why are they red?" Nanoha asked, edging a bit back.

However, the spell faded and the blue flames disappeared. When Naruto blinked, her eyes were blue as they'd always been. Naruto tilted her hed. "Red? My eyes are blue, Nanoha-chan!" Naruto said, frowning as she wobbled a bit. "Uwa... I think I overdid that spell a little," she said, shaking her head and taking a deep breath. "Now, come on... I'm not done yet!"

Nanoha frowned. "Okay. Let's keep going, then!" she said, nodding. Nanoha swept her staff in front of her and once more released her bullets. This time, a full dozen was shot, and Naruto was forced to dodge, as she couldn't block them if they came from more than one direction at a time, even if she could move surprisingly fast with her shield.

However, as she continued to be pushed around by Nanoha, Naruto discovered a very important fact.

She couldn't go on the offensive. And even when she managed to get Nanoha into melee range, or to cast a spell... she was limited. With a shield taking one of her hands, she couldn't use both to direct her spells. Dumb as it sounded in her mind, movement of her arms and hands actually affected the spells she utilized. She noticed when she tried to use the Bloody Dagger spell without directing them with her hands. The daggers shot off much more slowly. Even trying to use its secondary usage, by summoning them in a ring around Nanoha, hadn't helped, since they took to long to start of.

It was interesting to note that clenching her hand when casting them would have them converge faster, while sweeping her hand would have them do a wider arc as they flew. The effect was more pronounced when she used both hands to do it.

It made sense. She was shaping magic with her will. She couldn't put in everything of herself if she wasn't making an appropriate gesture. And it was also consistent with how Nanoha was casting her spells. After a while, Naruto began to notice the several ways Nanoha would shoot off her bullets or Buster beams. When she used her spear as if she was holding a proper spear, and thrusting forward, the spells came off faster and were more accurate, whereas whenever she swept her spear or didn't perform the appropriate motions, they'd be slower, weaker or similar.

As she was now, Naruto would not be able to pierce Nanoha's defense. Even when she caught Nanoha off guard, the younger girl was just so far above Naruto in terms of skill and experience that she found a way out of Naruto's fumbling attacks almost immediately. Seeing someone younger than herself defeating her with such ease was a bit of a humiliating and sobering thought for Naruto. She'd felt right on top of the world with her power after she'd casted the Bijuudama, even if she'd almost completely lost control of the spell... But to find that she was essentially worthless when compared to an actually talented combatant... it hurt.

Nanoha wasn't even fighting at her full capability, having slowed herself down and limited the power of her spells, and Naruto was still losing horribly.

Why... how... how could she still be so weak?

She couldn't defeat Nanoha so long as she was focused on defending, but if she wasn't focused on defending... she'd probably...

It...

Did it matter?

She was protecting herself but... did it matter? Did she matter?

Could she just defend herself while the others... No. They took risks. They faced disadvantageous situations. They fought the odds... For her sake. For her, they braved danger.

"I can't be any less than my knights..." Naruto muttered to herself, shaking her head. "I'm their master. I'm supposed to set an example. That's right..!"

"Are you alright, Naruto-chan?" Nanoha asked, pausing for a moment as she noticed Naruto had apparently stopped dodging her almost unending barrage of bombardment bullets.

"Yes. I'm... I'm sorry, Nanoha-chan. I've been fighting like a coward, just blocking and running away..." Naruto said, taking a deep breath. "Panzerschild, dismiss."

The grayish shield faded into nothingness.

"Uh, Naruto-chan, there's nothing wrong with fighting defensively. You're tougher and have more reserves than me, outlasting me is a pretty valid tactic," Nanoha mentioned, frowning a bit. "It's not applicable in every situation, of course, but it is a simple way of subduing an opponent you can't otherwise defeat without hurting them."

And Nanoha had no illusions that a single hit from one of the higher level spells Naruto knew would probably spell her doom and most likely hurt her something fierce. Tough as she was, Nanoha was not an idiot, nor was she crazy, and had no intention of letting herself be hit by any of the monstrously powerful spells the Book of Darkness had accumulated.

Naruto shook her head. "I can't keep running away... I have to fight head on! I have to win! I'm the Ruler of the Night Sky, I can't have my knights following a weakling!" Naruto said, clenching both fists. "I'm sorry I've wasted your time being a coward up to now, Nanoha-chan, but I'll make it up to you... the real fight starts... now!"

She was fast, Nanoha mused, but not fast enough to compare to Fate when Fate truly went all out with Sonic Form. Still fast enough to give Nanoha trouble, however. Naruto's fist crashed against a barrier Raising Heart automatically raised, when Nanoha realized that Naruto's seemingly reckless charge had another ulterior motive.

The ring of Bloody Daggers that manifested around Nanoha's body, behind Raising Heart's barrier, attested to that. Raising Heart, fortunately, was capable of multitasking and thus responded to Nanoha's demands immediately, utilizing Flash Move to get her out of the way just before dropping the barrier. The bloody daggers, however, didn't crash against themselves, instead they exploded into a very wide arc that traced her location.

To make matters worse, she heard Naruto's yell indicating that she was putting in a lot of effort. Unfortunately, all that effort was put into socking Nanoha across the face, which she did while Nanoha was busy shooting down the incoming daggers. Deciding that it was best to fight fire with fire, Nanoha let the punch move her until she was horizontal in the air, at which point she buried her leg in Naruto's gut, causing her to double in on herself, holding her stomach.

She wasn't a trained fighter, she couldn't react fast enough to brace herself against the blow, no matter how fast her reflexes were, as she just didn't know how.

Nanoha took a deep breath and swung Raising Heart the way she'd been taught, seeing it crash against the back of Naruto's head. She had no fear of hurting Naruto, if she could shrug off a Divine Buster to the back of the head, she could survive the beatdown Nanoha commenced to give her, going through the entire set of Kata that the Third Hokage had taught her, letting her body do its own thing while her mind ran through some very familiar calculations, until she used an addition of her own, factoring in their flying combat, to spike her towards the ground. Naruto landed in the very same crater she'd made with the Bijuudama, her eyes widened as she looked up at Nanoha.

"Divine Buster!" Nanoha roared, and swung with all of her might, releasing the powerful spell and unleashing a pink beam of doom towards her target.

Naruto grit her teeth and put both hands forward. "Panzer-"

However, she couldn't finish the spell to invoke her shield in time to block the attack, owing to the surprising nature of the follow up to a physical combo. A whitish glyph appeared in front of her, and the pink beam clashed against it, breaking through in an instant and slamming into Naruto. It exploded in a massive flare of pink light.

Nanoha, breathing heavily from the exertion, frowned before rubbing her cheek. "She punches harder than I thought..." she muttered, frowning as she looked at her hand. Blood. Naruto had managed to cut her with a single punch. Really, that girl had a lot of power. If she just learned how to use it, she'd be frightening. "You okay there, Naruto-chan?" Nanoha called down.

The smoke faded, and Naruto was revealed to still be lying on the ground, the crater now a bit deeper and more misshapen, instead of being a perfect little impression. Naruto was actually bleeding from the forehead, where the Divine Buster had struck, and had an ugly bruise forming on her exposed arms, which Naruto had put up as a feeble defense against the blows that had rained upon her from Raising Heart.

It took what had to be no less than a minute, but Naruto slowly picked herself off the ground and stood back up. Her barrier jacket, in contrast with her face and arms, was actually pristine, not even a speck of dirt in it.

"I told you... I am the Ruler of the Night Sky! Surrender..." Naruto yelled, though she was quite wobbly on her feet. It was clearly more posturing than anything else. "I refuse!"

"But... you've pretty much lost, Naruto-chan. You might get hurt if we keep going," Nanoha tried, frowning a bit. "You're... not going to listen, are you?"

"I'm not defeated yet... I still can... I still..."

However, Naruto didn't need to finish that sentence.

"Okay," Nanoha said, shaking her head. "If that's how you wish to go... then I will fight you with my full power," Nanoha said. "Raising Heart, Excellion Mode. Excellion Buster!"

"Roger, my master," Raising Heart replied. Nanoha pointed the staff down, to where Naruto was standing, and it shifted, seemingly becoming less of a stylized spear and more of a... hand held cannon. The two pronged tip opened, almost as if roaring, and pink wings of light burst into existence from behind it, giving it the appearance of being ready to fire.

Pink glyphs appeared all around it, a common sight, though this time they were more elaborate and bigger.

The device expelled a spent cartridge.

"Excellion Buster!"

The Divine Buster... it just held no candle to the beastly attack headed her way.

Naruto grit her teeth and brought her hands up. This time, she'd had more than enough time. "Panzerschild," she muttered, and a much larger white glyph appeared in front of her. This time, though the shield wasn't a small round shield meant to be held in her hand, instead it was more of a larger, curved shield that would've looked somewhat oversized on a very tall adult's hands.

Nanoha's pink beam crashed against it. And for a moment, it looked as though it'd hold.

But the Excellion Buster pierced through, breaking through it and striking at Naruto.

And then the fight was over.

* * *

"Your device has been improved significantly. A cartridge system? And magazine fed... Hm, a true bombardment mage, if I've ever seen one."

Nanoha stopped, blinking. She turned around and regarded Signum, who'd been the one to speak, catching her attention as she talked with Fate and Arf, giving the blonde a quick rundown of what the fight had been like from the driver's seat, so to speak. Signum's tone had actually made everyone halt for a second, even Shamal, Zafira and Vita, all of whom trailed behind her. "I... you sound a bit angry."

"Oh, I am livid," Signum said, though she seemed to have reigned in her emotions. "The fight was... harder to watch than I expected."

Behind Signum, Shamal held the sleeping body of Naruto. Nanoha had thought Naruto had been knocked unconscious, but she'd actually fallen asleep. It seemed that once she ran out of the magic that was keeping her status as an insomniac active, Naruto had just fallen to sleep. The realization that even the Excellion Buster hadn't been enough to knock Naruto out made Nanoha stop, when she heard it.

"I understand," Nanoha admitted, nodding. "It's... very sad to watch someone you care for lose a fight, knowing that you can't step in and help..."

"Maybe you do," Signum said, shaking her head, "but... I must still thank you. Rough as it was... defeat was a lesson mistress needed to learn. For someone with as much power as she has..."

"Learning that there is always someone better is vital," Jiraiya interrupted, walking into the litle gathering. Behind him were the Hokage and Lindy, and behind them was the rest of the group that'd been in the Uzumaki Mansion mere hours before. "I should know. I've made the mistake of thinking I'm invincible too many times," he said, grinning and patting his chest. Through the mesh that covered the parts of his upper chest revealed by his tunic, several small scars could just barely be seen, illustrating his point. "Good luck reigns supreme, though."

"Admiral! Jiraiya-san! Hokage-sensei!" Nanoha greeted, bowing. "Were you watching?"

"Yes," Lindy confirmed. "You've gotten better, Nanoha."

"It seems you have more talent than I would've suspected, young lady," the Hokage said, smiling kindly, "as you've picked up the staff very, very fast."

"Eheh, it's just dilligent training, sir," Nanoha said, blushing a little and scratching the back of her head.

"But... that girl's power was very impressive, as well..." Fate said, turning to Naruto. "It was... scary."

"Any single blast of the big ones she threw around would've taken me out if they'd hit me," Nanoha said, seriously. "The Bloody Dagger spell she uses... it punched through my barriers like they weren't even there. At most, they'd take a second to break through. And... if that big spell she threw didn't take so long to charge-"

"It's a testament to your skill that you managed to not get hit even once. Even moreso, considering that your opponent was inexperienced and unskilled on top of being supremely strong - a deadly combination that brings about unpredictability," the Hokage commented. "Never underestimate idiot children."

"Because sometimes, the idiot kid whom you've been making fun of might just wise up and punch you in the dick," Jiraiya commented, grinning. "And throw your entire test down the crapper."

"Yes, I remember that very well," Sarutobi said, rolling his eyes.

"That seems like an... out of place anecdote," Chrono commented. "Also, seriously?"

"Yes, that actually happened. He tried it twice, and it actually got me the second time because I wasn't expecting him to be stupid enough to try the same thing twice," Sarutobi said, frowning. "Nevertheless, skilled fighters have a fatal weakness which can be exploited, which is that they expect other people to behave much like themselves. So they expect certain moves that people do because they are the best thing to do in the situation."

"I see... so, someone who flails about with no idea what they're doing would do unexpected things," Nanoha said, nodding and stroking her chin. "Like maybe try to bash my head in with a shield when I take the fight to melee."

"Of course. Creativity is key, and in order to surprise your opponent, you must do something that would not be predictable," Sarutobi commented.

"Like putting a barrier right in front of someone's face," Chrono noted, idly.

Fate rubbed her nose, absent mindedly. "That was mean."

"But it worked," Chrono remarked, looking somewhat smug. "Nevertheless-"

"We're going to retire for the night. Mistress has finally fallen asleep, and we will not risk waking her up," Shamal explained, a small smile on her face. "Much as it hurt to see her struggle, I'm glad to know that your friendship is true. I'd hate to have to fight against you two now that your devices have been upgraded to such a level."

"Yes... Next time, our match will be more... interesting. I am looking forward to combatting you once more, Fate Testarossa," Signum said, her eyes closed.

"Likewise. I'd like to see how we stack up, when we are evenly equipped," Fate noted, nodding.

"Ah... Um... Shouldn't you make a similar comment, Vita?" Shamal asked, turning to the little redhead, however, Vita was clearly distracted.

Still, she shook her head. "Takamachi... Nanoha..." though she'd taken a second to stumble over the pronounciation of her name, Vita nevertheless managed to sound somewhat scary. "Next time we fight, I will return every bruise you've left on my mistress' body, tenfold!"

"I won't let you, Vita-chan... Next time, I'll beat you," Nanoha said, running her thumb over the red jewel that was Raising Heart's sealed form, held in necklace form around her neck.

"Calm down, Vita. Mistress will punish you if you do that and you know it," Zafira said, looking perhaps the most calm of all the knights, understandably as he was by far the most stoic of them.

"By the way, big guy," Arf interrupted. "Are we still on for tomorrow?"

"Of course," Zafira said. "I promised, and a Belkan Knight's word is his honor."

Even if he was technically not a knight.

"... Did I miss something?" Fate asked, looking somewhat surprised.

"This is news to me as well," Signum commented, and even Vita broke out of her rage induced reverie to look surprised.

Shamal, however, did not. "You don't pay very much attention to anything when you focus on something more important."

"Hyperfocus..? I do know someone like that, don't I?" Lindy commented, non subtly gesturing towards Chrono, who seemed too engrossed in listening in to notice that Lindy was doing such a thing.

The one thing he did notice, however, was Yuuno snickering. He glared at the blond boy for an instant before he calmed himself. Yuuno seemed to be rather smug about the dig at Chrono. At least a little bit of payback for being ferret boy all the time.

"A date..?" Fate asked. "I'm... honestly surprised."

"Well, I do have my own life, you know," Arf noted, cheekily.

"I... uh..." Fate was somewhat confused. "Good luck I guess?"

"I wouldn't be so worried. I challenged him to a fistfight," Arf commented, grinning. "He's acting all calm and stoic now, but he was hardly holding it this well when we were watching from the bridge. I thought it'd be a good idea to provide him an outlet for violence. But hey, while we're at it, we might as well give it a try, huh?"

"Maybe you want to see Konoha?" Zafira asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if my master had been a more kind one who'd taken me to see the sights when she saw them... But it just so happens to be that she didn't," Arf said, cheekily.

Fate pouted. "I was trying to be subtle. Your forms are... quite eyecatching."

"I blame it on, you know, the fact you've got big ti-"

Jiraiya was smacked upside the head by the Hokage before he could finish the sentence.

"Maybe if you closed up your shorts so your panties didn't peek out..." Jiraiya commented, ignoring his prior sentence.

"Yes, actually, why do you not close up your pants?" Fate asked, curiously.

"You dress quite provocatively," Lindy commented, nodding.

"I won't lie... you're very eyecatching," Yuuno said, carefully picking his words.

"My family thought you were ah..." Nanoha cleared her throat. "Well, a woman of ill repute, when they first saw you. They wouldn't tell me what one of those was, though..."

"Well, I've got it, might as well flaunt it, right?" Arf said, shrugging.

"Very well, then, we'll retire to Konoha for tonight," Sarutobi said, clasping his hands behind his back. "Perhaps tomorrow we may talk further?"

"Yes, we shall," Lindy said, smiling.

"Thank you, then... We may go."

There was only some more small talk, but soon enough, the TSAB and the natives of Konoha parted ways, for yet one more day.

To most of them, today was the day that marked the end of their trouble, as everything seemed to settle into a somewhat stable routine, and things only seemed to be looking up.

However, that night, as he laid in his bed... Chrono Harlaown couldn't help but feel a familiar sensation that had been plaguing him for a while... "Why... why does it feel like everything's going too well..?"

Then he remembered the last bad feeling he had. Which led to seeing his mother put on the most revealing clothing she'd ever wore in front of him. And he shivered in fear.

* * *

...

The following should be read in an overly excited voice that is clearly faking it:

Why do things keep turning out so well for everyone? Why does Chrono feel like everything's going to go to shit very soon? Will Yuuno have wet dreams about women dressed in tiny bikinis, including a frequent tormentor's mom? Will Arf and Zafira hit it off and become more than potential friends?

Fuck knows, but we sure as hell are gonna learn... maybe. Possibly. Probably not.

Chrono's probably gonna have nightmares about Yuuno fucking his mom, though.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 20: The Disappearance of Uzumaki Naruto

* * *

"... I lost," Naruto muttered, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Yes, you did," as usual, her voice was warm and full of kindness. Naruto had missed visiting the pretty silver haired lady in her dreams during the period she'd spent as an insomniac.

"I... didn't even manage to land a single spell on her... I'm terrible," she added, looking down at the infinite blackness that was the non-floor below her feet.

"It was your first time ever fighting," the pretty lady pointed out.

"I know... and it shouldn't matter. I'm... I'm the Master of the Book! I'm the strongest! I'm the ruler of the Night Sky, I'm supposed to be the best by default... But she... Nanoha-chan's so much better and stronger than me... how... how am I supposed to protect anyone if I'm so weak?!" her voice hitched a bit. "I'm... I'm supposed to be better..!"

"Nobody's an expert when they first start out. You have a very big advantage over any other novice... but you're still just that, a novice," the pretty lady spoke.

"... But you're not, are you..?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. "You know how to fight, don't you?"

"... Yes," the pretty lady admitted. "I know many, many ways to fight... Even those of this world, as I know all that has been downloaded into the book."

"So... you know everything that anyone whose Linker Core has been absorbed knew?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. "That's awesome!"

"Yes and no," the pretty lady explained, shaking her head. "While most of the corruption lies on the Rebirth and Defense Programs, I have not escaped without harm... I've had to remove a great deal of my stored knowledge, including hundreds of spells and techniques, as they'd been corrupted."

"Uh... that's kind of my fault, isn't it?" Naruto asked, rubbing the back of her head. "I made you do that."

"Worry not, my mistress... I'd gladly destroy each and every part of me that is corrupted. I do not enjoy it, but I enjoy the corruption even less," she admitted, closing her eyes. "And I will endure any and all pain, if it is to spare you of it."

"Don't be like that..." Naruto muttered, shaking her head. "I can bear it... Everyone's always thinking I'm just a fragile glass doll or something..."

"Please, accept my apologies, mistress, but you are dear to me, to all of us... that is why, even if you do not need it, we wish to be the ones safeguarding you..." the pretty lady explained. "From everything and everyone... you are our treasure."

Naruto blinked. "Huh?" she asked, tilting her head. "But... you're mine... How can I be yours?"

"The same way you get angry when someone hurts one of us, mistress, we get angry when someone... including yourself... hurts you," the pretty lady explained. "The same way you get jealous when we pay more attention to someone else, we get jealous when you prefer another's company to our own."

"I don't get jea-" Naruto contested, but she was shut up by a finger put to her lips, which caused her to go cross eyed as she glanced at it in surprise. She closed her eyes and hastily shook her head.

"You do, mistress. I've got a connection to your mind. I can see, hear and feel what you feel... I know you, perhaps even better than you know yourself. I know everything there is to know about you, and I know how much it burns... I know how much it hurts. I know, I feel that pain myself... Though, of course, you know this, don't you mistress..?" the pretty lady asked, offering her a somewhat sly smirk.

"I... do?" Naruto asked. "I do," she said, nodding. "Ach... this NachtWal thing is really messing me up! I don't know what I know- er, I mean, I don't know if what I know is what I know or if it's just NachtWal feeding me information-"

"Does it truly matter, mistress?" the pretty lady asked.

"You have a name," Naruto commented, idly. "... and yet..."

"Yes, I do," the pretty lady said. "But..."

"You deserve something better than 'Master Program'," Naruto agreed. "I've been thinking..."

"Yes, I know," the pretty lady noted, smiling slyly once more, "but you haven't decided yet... It's okay. I've already told you, mistress, anything you choose for me is fine... It is the name my beloved mistress will give me, and as such, it is a precious gift from her."

"A thoughtless gift is no gift at all!" Naruto declared, stamping her foot on the non existent ground. "I won't... I won't reduce you to that!" she said, shaking her head. "So that's why I'll have to spend some time. I think I'm getting somewhere..."

"Well, I shall leave you to it, I suppose," the Master Program said, nodding. "Now, you have a question, do you not?"

"Of course you know," Naruto said, rolling her eyes. "Actually... if NachtWal can teach me spells in like a second... why doesn't it teach me how to fight? I mean, it could tell me of ways to fight so I could defeat Nanoha! It's the defense program, right, so it should know how to-"

"NachtWal cannot take over your body if you don't let it, mistress," the Master Program explained, shaking her head. "And it's best it remain that way. NachtWal is still corrupted, and still does not distinguish Friend from Foe. If it were to take control of you, it'd define everything and everyone around it as a threat and destroy everything until the only threat remaining was itself, at which point it'd self destruct, taking you along with it."

"... right, that," Naruto conceded. "That'd be bad."

"Suicidal explosions tend to be bad, yes," the Master Program noted, idly.

"... I notice that you didn't mention anything about the rest of the world being destroyed," Naruto commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I do have priorities," the Master Program replied, smiling at her. "And... It is rather obvious which I'd choose between you and this world, is it not?"

Naruto grinned. "You're all mine! Mine and no one else's! That's why..."

"Yes... I understand you, mistress... NachtWal cannot help you, in its current state, as its artificial intelligence has long since degraded to the point of uselessness..."

"It doesn't matter... I'll get stronger... I'll be the strongest! That way... that way I can protect everyone by myself! And then... I'll make Nanoha-chan mine, as well! Then I can bend Nanoha over my knee and spank her until she begs forgiveness for hitting me in the back of the head!" Naruto declared, pumping her fist. "Yeah! That's what I'll do!"

"That's... good spirit, I suppose," the Master Program said.

"By the way... What's with the get up?" Naruto asked.

The silver haired Master Program was wearing... a minidress styled much like what Naruto remembered her Barrier Jacket to look like, only it was missing most of the armored parts and the actual jacket. "Oh... this?" she asked.

"Yeah... I think I've worn something similar," Naruto commented, smiling. "It looks better on you, though..."

"It's the longer legs. Not to worry, mistress. Eventually, yours will be just as long as mine," the Master Program said, patting her head. "Though your tan is better than mine..."

"Well... you could always try stockings to hide your lack of exposure to the sun?" Naruto said. "Or you could tell me how to let you out or something..."

"Ah... that is quite difficult. You'd need to complete the book. As it is, the book is tasked to full capacity keeping the four Knights embodied. Your body is supporting and simultaneously being supported by NachtWal."

"Well... we'll do that, then. It's not like there's any danger now, right? I mean..."

"I suppose. The Defense Program is already active... so long as you can contain it, my mistress, there should be no issues to completing the book. I shall trust in the power of your will. I will ask for only one thing, however... when you call me out of this book, my mistress... I want you to call my name. The name you give me. I want you to have it ready for when we meet, face to face, in the real world, outside of this dream," the Master Program requested. "Can I ask for that?"

"Hm... Don't worry! I'll think up something, I promise!" Naruto said, grinning and giving her a thumbs up.

"Very well... I suppose our time together has, once more, come to an end. Your mind has been ravaged by insomnia, mistress. As much as NachtWal has done to prevent damage to your brain, your psyche is still tired. For this, I suggest you sleep, even within the world of your dreams... This is, admittedly, a bit more taxing on your mind than if I didn't interrupt your sleep, but-"

"It's the only way we can ever meet, right?" Naruto asked, shaking her head. "I'd gladly suffer a little less sleep every night, if it means I get to talk with you every night."

"Sleep, you charmer," the pretty lady said, shaking her head with a mirthful smile on her face. "There'll be time to practice your seduction on another occasion."

"... Seduction?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"Don't worry about it... you know, you're a pretty greedy selfish girl," the Master Program said, smiling in clear amusement.

"Uwa... what? That's not very nice to say!" Naruto said, frowning."Why would you say that?"

"Well... you've got us, right? Me and the knights..." the Master Program began. "But... You still want more. You want Nanoha, and Fate-chan too, am I right? You want to have us all, all to yourself... That's pretty greedy and selfish."

"You don't sound disapproving," Naruto commented, tilting her head. "Usually when people say that, they're disapproving."

"That's true," the Master Program agreed, "but then again, my beloved mistress... That's why we love you."

"... But isn't being selfish and greedy a bad thing?" Naruto asked, confused. "I mean, I hate it when people are like that to me..."

"You might understand some day. For now, I'll just tell you that it's too complex an issue for the time we have left together... Let me tell you what, I will explain it to you when you can summon me into the world, okay? That way, we'll have all the time we need..."

Naruto yawned. "Sounds good!"

"You're sleepy, aren't you?" the Master Program said. "Well... go on and rest, mistress... it's been too long... I'll watch over you."

"Thank you... Uwaa... it's a bit stuffy... could you turn on the air conditioner?" Naruto asked.

The Master Program smiled. "Of course, mistress," she said, and with a wave of her hand, a slow, fresh breeze blew through the infinite darkness.

"Heheh... I was right... you're like a soft breeze, pushing me forwards... Like a Blessed Wind!" Naruto commented, grinning. "G'night..."

"Good night, my beloved mistress..."

* * *

"Ich bin der waffle automat!"

"Your Belkan is atrocious. I award you no points. Otherwise good morning, Mistress," Zafira commented. "Also, mistress, I'd appreciate it if you let go of my arm."

Naruto blinked. Then she opened her mouth and noticed she had one of Zafira's forearms just in front of her. It had noticeable bite marks.

"Well, someone is hungry for breakfast, I see," Zafira commented amusement tinging his tone.

"... Your arm tastes good," Naruto said, flippantly. "Gimme food!"

Zafira gave her a platter with waffles. "We thought you might be particularly hungry and tired this morning. We were half right."

Naruto had already devoured a pile of six waffles topped with melted butter and chocolate, and was moving in on a second one with strawberry ice cream. Apparently, they still had a lot of waffles. They were a little old, but serviceable. Naruto was, clearly, as full of energy as she'd been these past few days. It was one of the worse case scenarios, which meant that she had an insanely high rate of recovery of her magic power. Well, either that, or her fight with Nanoha didn't drain all that much.

Naruto burped and jumped out of the bed, almost as if to prove Zafira's assesment correct. "Vita moved out of the bed before I woke up," she said, nodding to herself as she cupped her chin.

"She's drawing you a bath," Zafira informed.

"Good, good. Now let's go. You smell like stale sweat and old waffles!" Naruto demanded. "Let's move, stinky!"

* * *

Naruto sighed, pulling out the white envelope she'd put in the drawer containing her underwear. The one where the others wouldn't go, the one that contained all that she kept private from her knights. She turned it over in her fingers, closing her eyes. "I don't need it... I can handle it well enough on my own... I'm the strongest."

She frowned.

It was tantalizing. She couldn't deny she was tempted. But... she couldn't. She was better than that. She had to be. She couldn't... couldn't be so weak.

* * *

"I want to do it again. This time, I will beat you," Naruto said, glaring at Nanoha.

"Uhm... sure, I guess?"

Naruto... didn't win.

* * *

"You've improved, mistress... You must stay the course. Perseverance, perseverance is everything. The best you can do right now is earn experience by doing."

The pretty lady sighed, running her hand through Naruto's hair.

"Please... don't overexert yourself."

* * *

The next day...

Signum sighed. "We'll all be training today, mistress."

"The Training Room is in use," Nanoha said, shaking her head. "So we've got... two hours until we get the day free."

Naruto growled, stomping her foot. "Today, I was totally going to win!"

"And... When the Training Room does get free... I have training with Hokage-dono too," Nanoha admitted. "I'm sorry, but I can't fight today."

"I'm free," Fate admitted. "I'd actually appreciate a training partner."

"That's great! You and Nanoha-chan are at roughly the same level, right?" Naruto asked.

"Close enough," Nanoha said. "Fate's a bit of a better fighter than I am..."

"That'll do, then... Fate-chan, let's do our best!" Naruto said.

"Right," Fate agreed.

Both smiled at each other.

"Nyahah, you're really similar!" Nanoha commented.

Signum shook her head. "I don't know whether mistress is short or Testarossa is tall..."

* * *

"Are you ready, Naruto-chan?"

"Always, Fate-chan! Get ready to lose!"

* * *

"Hello, mistress... should we continue with our game? I promise I have not looked at your cards..."

"You know, I just realized. You can read my mind, can't you? So that means you could be cheating at any time!"

"... I swear I have not cheated... this time."

* * *

Naruto woke up. "I lost again," she muttered, before shaking her head. "Today... today I'll win!"

She woke up Shamal, who blearily lifted her head. "Breakfast..?"

"Breakfast!" Naruto agreed.

* * *

"We're actually both scheduled for training today," Fate said, apologetically. "I was actually scheduled for a fight with Signum today, and Nanoha is going to be doing exercises the whole day..."

"However, I've grown curious about your abilities. If you're willing, I'd be your partner for today," her companion, one Chrono Harlaown, spoke.

"Hm... You're very skilled, right?"

"Chrono is really, really skilled. Even though he's weaker than me and Nanoha in raw power, we can't beat him," Fate confirmed.

"Don't exaggerate," Chrono said, waving his hand. "It's mostly the difference in experience. It's only a few years, you'll catch up."

"Then you'll be an even harder oppponent," Naruto said, nodding and stroking her chin. "I approve."

"Let's take Power VS Skill to the logical extreme," Chrono said, a hint of a smile on his face."

* * *

"Mistress, please, do cover your face."

"I'm gonna wake up and be one big bruise, aren't I?" Naruto muttered. "That sucks."

"Well, no. NachtWal and the Rebirth Program work very closely together, so NachtWal has become proficient at healing its host body's injuries. You'll be fine come morning."

* * *

"Ugh, that was my worst loss yet," Naruto muttered. "I've never been hit so many times... why did he have to hit me in the face? If I ever hear the words 'Stinger Snipe' again, it'll be too soon!"

"Mistress... let's go back to sleep... Mmhm... I want... rabbits..." Vita mumbled.

"For lunch?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

Vita hummed.

"Where am I going to find a rabbit to eat for lunch?"

* * *

"Okay, so I found a rabbit, but I have no idea how to cook it and-"

Vita shook her head. "Don't worry, mistress, we'll take care of it."

"You know how to cook?" Naruto asked, tilting her head, skepticism clear in her face and voice.

"You'd be surprised. While we don't remember very much exactly, at least I remember enough to know that our masters are very often less than kind, and more than one forced us to attend to them," Vita said, nodding her head. "In this regard, you're a rarity, mistress."

"Huh," Naruto eloquently replied. "Okay, then. I'm looking forward to your cooking, Vita-chan."

* * *

"Okay, besides the fact that Vita has proven that she can actually cook and has managed to shut up her naysayers, I have yet to find a reason why I shouldn't just start punching people and hoping for the best. Give me a reason to use spells instead, Nanoha-chan!" Naruto commanded imperiously despite the absurdity of her sentence.

"Well... we're ALL busy today, so-"

"I'm not. The servers connecting us to the Infinite Library are down, and as such, I can't perform my duties remotely as I usually do," Yuuno interrupted.

"You are? That's great!" Nanoha cheered.

"Is there a single one of you who CAN'T kick my ass in combat?" Naruto muttered, frowning.

"We'll see. My specialty is defense. You've got barrier piercing attacks, so you're at a bit of an advantage, but... it's nothing I haven't worked with before."

* * *

"I'm so glad I regenerate from everything, because I'd probably be really, REALLY ugly with a messed up nose," Naruto muttered, frowning as she took stock of the pieces on the board. "Also, check."

The Master Program nodded, moving a rook several spaces forward. "Checkmate, Mistress. Also, I think you'd look lovely with a bright red nose and reindeer antlers, but that's just me, I suppose."

"That's not checkmate, I've still got my trump card."

"Oh, really, mistress?" the Master Program asked.

"Yes. It's the legendary technique known as the Belkan Table Flip, as taught to me by Vita."

* * *

"Ein... zwei... drei-"

"Mistress, is there any particular reason why you are counting in Belkan?" Signum asked, looking somewhat confused.

"Actually, yes," Naruto said, stretching her limbs as she got up from bed, ignoring the fact that Signum's body was only covered by their shared bedsheets.

"... Usually that is an invitation to elaborate," Signum said.

"Oh. Well... I'm not going to tell you," Naruto said, shaking her head. "Anyway, today is a good day. Therefore, I will be at the pool, trying to forget the fact that I've lost to practically everyone, and that I apparently suck at fighting."

* * *

"So... here's how it goes... Diene Zauber binden wieder-"

"Naruto-chan!"

"-Gleipnir!"

Sakura blinked. "Did you just-"

"Yes, I'm awesome!" Naruto shouted, pumping her fist. "Binding, success!"

"Naruto-chan, why is there a harness of dark blue chakra preventing my movements? Chakra isn't even supposed to be visible, let alone of that color!" Sakura said, somewhat alarmed.

"Well, it's a very long and incredibly stupid explanation, so just go with me being really awesome and let's leave it at that, okay?" Naruto said. "Anyway, Sakura-chan, where're Kiba and Sasuke?"

"We're right here. Unlike Sakura, we stayed clear of the girl in weird clothes chanting in some unintelligible language," Sasuke interrupted. "... Also, did you put up a request for a spar? That's... strange, coming from someone who... you know..."

"Who was hospitalized for a week long coma not too long ago," Kiba said.

"Right! I did! That's 'cause I need to fight you guys to test something!"

* * *

"You're really good, Naruto-chan! Those jutsu were all amazing!" Sakura commented, patting Naruto's back.

"But I still lost..." Naruto muttered. "What use is all that if I can't even land a hit?" Naruto muttered.

"Well... you're just starting out, right? Your moves are all really predictable. You make really big gestures to use those jutsu, so we know to get out of the way as soon as we see you do that," Kiba commented.

"So, you're telegraphing your moves ahead of time. And you react very slowly. You seem to have the appropriate reactions down, but something is... I don't know, it's like something were holding you back from being as quick and strong as you could be. You're hesitating all the time," Sasuke explained, rubbing his chin. "I think it comes down to experience. You're stronger and faster than us, and your jutsu are generally better, but... we can outmaneuver you because we can predict your actions ahead of time."

Naruto sat down and sighed. "Thank you guys for your help," she said. "Shamal'll bring us something to eat and your payment."

"No problem. Just put in a mission request when you need to spar," Sakura said, smiling.

Naruto nodded with a smile.

* * *

A short lesson with Shamal had Naruto using the last bits of her magic she needed to exhaust herself for the day, so that she could find sleep.

However, unlike the other days, she hadn't fallen dead on her bed.

Instead, she looked up at the ceiling. And she remembered...

She was being proud. Too proud. Too proud to accept help when it was offered... perhaps...

She shook her head.

She had... she had to.

There was no other way. They'd... they'd suffered so much, for her sake. They'd done so much for her... She needed this. As much as she needed to do it for their sake, she needed to do it for her own. For her peace of mind. They were hers... her knights... and she'd be damned if she'd just stay back and be a weakling that dragged them down, a weakling they needed to protect. She couldn't... couldn't accept being the cause...

She wouldn't be weak.

Not anymore.

Not ever again.

* * *

"Mistress... remember, no matter what, I will support you. Whatever the road you choose."

"Thank you, my blessed wind..."

* * *

"Let me guess. You've all got training today, right?" Naruto said, at the breakfast table.

Shamal absent mindedly tugged one of her fingers and the salt jumped halfway across the table to be caught on her hand. The wire flashed a little.

"Nifty," Vita commented.

"It's really, really hard not to cut through things with razor wire, though," Shamal admitted. "And it's a bit harder to swing without Klarer Wind acting as a weight," she added.

"You've all gotten really strong from your training... you've learned all sorts of things," Naruto said, frowning.

"Yes, but today, we're all free, Mistress... we will help you become stronger," Signum said.

Naruto shook her head. "No... today, we'll complete the book. There's no reason not to. The Defense Program isn't an issue. Even if the Book is activated, it will remain in containment within me."

"Are... you certain of this, mistress?"

"Yes. I've actually confirmed this with the Master Program. The corruption is fully contained within me. The book is functioning at perfect capacity at the moment," Naruto commented. "The Defense Program is already active. Completing the book wouldn't change a thing."

"I... see. Then I suppose there's no reason not to. It'd make you significantly stronger and allow you full access to the entire width of your abilities as Ruler of the Night Sky," Shamal muttered, nodding.

"Normally, however, the book is finished by reabsorbing the Guardian Knight system. As you might have guessed, that isn't a thing I want to do. So... I thought you could ask for help from Nanoha-chan and her friends, or just take up bounty hunting for a while," Naruto explained. "You have your orders. Get to it, Wolkenritter."

"At once, Mistress!"

The four Knights departed from the Breakfast table.

* * *

"... There was something odd with the Mistress," Signum stated. "She seemed... oddly tense. She wasn't lying, but..."

"She was bothered by something. There was something keeping her mind troubled," Zafira affirmed, crossing his arms. "We don't know what it is, but... we'd be glad if you could visit her, maybe see if she opens up to you in a way she doesn't to us? She tries to present a strong front, so she would not confess her woes, but..."

Vita frowned. "I don't like this... But I agree. Naruto-chan will never tell us if something's bothering her..."

"Unless she could punish you for it," Jiraiya noted, an amused tone to his voice. "Am I right?"

Shamal nodded. "Which means it's most likely something we can help her with, but she doesn't wish for help with," she said, sighing. "That's why..."

"Of course we'll go," Nanoha said, nodding. "Fate-chan, pack your swimsuit, we might need it..."

Fate nodded. Swimming was almost as fun as flying, particularly when they played games in the pool. Even if Nanoha was brutal. "Okay, then..."

"About the Linker Core thing, I have no issues giving you mine," Jiraiya said, nodding at Signum. "I'll pass a few techniques that Naruto really ought to know anyway, those are her birthright after all."

"Thank you," Signum said.

"I'll talk with the Old Man, I'm sure there are a few ninja we can spare from our, ahem, low income housing," Jiraiya added, grinning.

"Once more, thank you," Signum repeated. "What about you two?"

"Much as I fear the Starlight Breaker being used against me again... If it's okay, I don't have an objection," Fate said, nodding. "I'll recover, right?"

"Yes, without ill side effects."

Nanoha smiled. "Then I'll do it, too. I'd like to see how strong a Starlight Breaker Naruto-chan can make!"

* * *

Nanoha and Fate had been given a key by Shamal, and so they'd just walked in, believing they'd find Naruto in the backyard after checking around the house.

However, she wasn't there.

Nanoha frowned. "Wide area search," she commanded. While a bit winded after donating a sizable portion of her core, the Wolkenritter hadn't taken enough to cause actual injury, and so she could use magic after an hour's time spent recovering coupled with a big lunch. She wasn't at full strength, but she was in a pretty good state. Hundreds of pink spheres shot around the entire property.

Their fears were confirmed.

"Naruto's not here. I'll check Konoha," Nanoha muttered.

A few minutes later...

"We... might have a bit of a problem," Nanoha said, contacting the entirety of the Wolkenritter through a telepathic connection.

* * *

Well well well... only four more chapters to go.

If all goes according to plan, anyway.

As you might have noticed, updates slowed down. That is because I've deviated from my original plans quite a bit, and am now having to rewrite the story's final stretch according to a few changes that snowballed from the first few chapters. That kinda sucks, but hey, shit happens. As it is, I have mostly figured out what's going to happen next.

Now, as usual, if you guys write me up a Tropes Page, I'll gladly go back and point every single reference I consciously made in every single chapter, so that it's easier for you guys to add the shoutouts. There's a lot, and there's a shitton coming. The action climax of the story will basically be one huge shoutout, too.

Anyway, as you might have guessed, Naruto lost to basically EVERYONE. And with good reason. Much like Hayate, Naruto has the power to steamroll anything or anyone... she just has no idea how to actually use it. NachtWal is useless in this regard, since its strategy is "Tank And Destroy", which it gets away with because it, you know, regenerates when its destroyed. And yes, Naruto DID in fact lose to Sasuke, Kiba and Sakura, even accounting for her magic. They never let her use any big spells, nor did they let her prep anything more than shoot a few Bloody Daggers or her approach to a Divine Buster knock off. They just wailed on her and beat her that way.

Put simply, I wanted to make it clear that Naruto's approaching this problem the WRONG way. Instead of growing more skilled with the power she does have, she's basically seeking more power. And you know what the other power hungry guy did when he couldn't find enough power in Konoha...


	21. Chapter 21

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 21: Experiments in Audacity

* * *

"You're taking a girl to a deserted forest outside the city? People could talk, you know," Naruto absent mindedly noted as she leaned against the bark of some tree she couldn't recognize on sight. It was one of the smaller ones, though, since she reckoned she could climb, unlike the completely flat, tough as nails and gigantic trees that usually dominated Konoha's forest.

"Just a little further north," her silver haired companion said, pushing his glasses up. "And as for what they might say... Well, Naruto-chan, they say many things about me. Several of the nurses at the hospital think I'm gay, and there's at least one doctor who is trying to set me up with his actually gay son," he commented, clasping both hands behind his back. "Shall we resume?" he asked.

"Sure. Hm... Shamal never told me much about you, Kabuto-kun. She just said that you were a model medic nin student," Naruto added, idly. "But you're not just that, are you?"

"Perceptive, aren't you? Of course I am not," Kabuto said, turning to smile at her. "Over everything else, I suppose I'd consider myself a scientist. The pursuit of knowledge is my one true passion."

And yet he was delivering his every line with an extreme lack of it. "You're boring," Naruto commented. "If you're gonna be a scientist, you might as well ham it up a little! Be a little mad, have fun with life, dammit!"

"I do!" Kabuto said, smiling at her, "though if you prefer me as a giggling lunatic, it could always be arranged," he said, doing exactly that. However, his giggle was terribly fake, probably intentionally.

"Let's not do that again," Naruto said. "And, why aren't we flying there, again? I really do need to get back before dinner, you know."

"Because your flight is extremely eye catching and my teacher demands subtlety," Kabuto said. He frowned. "Would you kindly dispose of the wolves that think we are their next meal?"

Naruto gave him a shrug. "If they attack," she said. "They won't, though."

"Are you so certain? Scared animals are dangerous animals. We might be wandering into their territory, they could consider us a threat to their young pups... Or perhaps, hm, yes, they do recognize us as superior predators, hm? Do they perhaps know of your abilities?" Kabuto commented. "Although, I suppose your odd jutsu would send a beacon to your allies, mhm?"

"It wouldn't matter, I left a note anyway," Naruto said. "What, did you think I'd come here without telling anyone I'm going out?"

"Naruto-chan, I did ask you to come alone and not tell anyone, did I not?" a silky smooth, suave voice interrupted.

"Orochimaru-sama... so odd, to see you cross the border so brazenly," Kabuto instantly said.

Naruto turned to a tree and, lo and behold, Orochimaru seemed to grow out of it like a particularly effeminate pimple. "I don't know whether that's cool or kinda gross," she commented. "Also, I didn't tell them where I was going. I didn't know where he would take me," Naruto said, shrugging.

"That's not very smart, wandering off on your own with an unknown boy..." Orochimaru commented, pulling himself free of the tree entirely. "Some would say it is... suicidally stupid."

"Can either of you fly faster than sound? Because I can," Naruto said, deadpan. "And my knights are a mind shout away. Plus, you've already shown a reluctance to harm me... reluctance is the right word for when you don't want to do something right?"

"It is, yes," Kabuto confirmed.

"Smarter than you look, hm?" Orochimaru asked. "Or did you just now think of that, just to justify your own actions?"

"Maybe," Naruto confessed. "... I should punch you. You tried to kill the old man."

"Oh, yes, and if we recount the list of people who have tried to kill him, we'd run out of numbers before long," Orochimaru commented. "And in all fairness, we were at war."

"A war that you started. 'Cuz you wanted to kill him," Naruto said, flatly. "Not making a good point in your defense here."

"She does have a point, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto admitted, turning to Orochimaru.

"Well, she does, that I will admit. However, this is not what we are here to discuss, is it Naruto-chan? You want information I have, and I want a favor from you," Orochimaru commented. "Well, several favors, but who's counting?"

"I am," Kabuto chirped. "You pay me to do exactly that."

Orochimaru just gave him a flat stare before turning back to Naruto. She seemed to be holding back her giggles. "You are my assistant, Kabuto, I have an accountant and it is not you," Orochimaru commented snidely, causing Naruto to erupt into full blown laughter. It was always nice to be appreciated. He did, however, clear his throat to catch her attention once more. "I trust you are curious, Naruto-chan, about what I have to tell you.."

"Well, of course I am! Who wouldn't be?" Naruto said, shaking her head. "But you said the one favor."

"Well, yes, one favor for one piece of information. Are you interested?" Orochimaru asked, tilting his head.

"... Whatever. I don't really care. Yes, I am interested," Naruto said, waving her hand as if dispelling her own doubts. "Let's get to the point. I've got loads of things I want from you!"

"Very well, then. I shall start our trade, then. Do you know of the Akatsuki, perchance?" Orochimaru asked.

"... Red moon?" Naruto guessed.

"Nice try, but no, Red Dawn actually," Kabuto said.

"Well, I'd like to see you try to learn Belkan, you jerk," Naruto said, glaring at him.

"I don't even know what that is," Kabuto said. "But it sounds complicated."

"Leaving aside the pointless bickering from my assistant who will from now on at least try to keep himself in check, this is the first morsel of information for you. The Akatsuki is a group of ten S rank missing nin, all on a level with myself or capable of defeating me in one on one combat. They are all hunting for the nine Jinchuuriki, including yourself, and are extracting their bijuu and placing them in a statue, for purposes that I am not entirely certain of. The leader appears to be trying to weaponize them, but I have yet to see what exactly he intends to do."

"Huh. That's surprisingly clear and to the point. I half expected you to give me some vague bullshit," Naruto admitted, looking at him in askance.

"I could, but that'd be damaging to our professional exchange. I cannot expect you to be honest and truthful in your deals with myself if I do not give you the same courtesy," Orochimaru explained, nodding at her. "The Akatsuki have as much reason to kill me as many others, and as such, seeing them defeated and killed would favor me quite a bit. I believe you will be capable of doing so, given time, and as such I am offering you my help to do so."

"Okay. So long as you know I'm gonna beat them all up just because they're trying to kill me, not for you," Naruto said.

"Oh, I do not expect you to be grateful to me and swear to defend me, that'd be very dumb. No, what I do expect from you is something of equal value to this scroll," he said, a quick, almost snake-like movement of his arm revealing a scroll from his oversized sleeve, which he presented to Naruto. "It contains all the information I've managed to dig up on the Akatsuki and its members."

"I can see the Old Man liking that. Maybe I'll give it to him as a birthday present or something. And... in return, what exactly do you want?" Naruto asked.

"It's rather simple, really. A vial of your blood," Orochimaru said.

"... Why?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"Multiple purposes. But mostly, because I know the location of several ruins of former Uzumaki enclaves and temples, some of which have still functioning security seals. Most are linked to the blood of an Uzumaki, such as yourself," Orochimaru explained, idly. "I trust that you have no problem with me finding and researching the ruins of your ancestors' work."

"Eh, I don't care about that stuff," Naruto said, shrugging. "I live in the present!" she added. "Anyway, sure, whatever. I don't care. You want it now, or..?"

Kabuto smiled. "We'll wait until the end of our conversation. The procedure is quick, simple and painless, I assure you."

Naruto shrugged.

Orochimaru smiled beatifically. "That's great to know. If I find anything of special importance to yourself, I will endeavor to find a way to make it reach your ears," Orochimaru said, nodding and bowing theatrically. "However..."

"There's more you want, and more you know that I want," Naruto said, closing her eyes and glaring at him. "And you know that I know that you know."

"Confusing as that would get, yes, I do," Orochimaru said. "Would you have any particular requests?"

"Yes! Your hair's really, really pretty. How do you get your hair to be that pretty? I've tried all sorts of hair care products, and I can't get anywhere near that shiny even on my best days! And it looks so silky, too," Naruto gushed, looking at the long and flowing curtain of dark hair that followed Orochimaru's movements.

Both of the traitor ninja felt their faces make the shocked expressions, but they were a bit too surprised to even notice the lapse in their poker faces. "... I... what. You seriously... no, what?" Kabuto seemed confused.

"... I can give you that as a freebie," Orochimaru said, somewhat idly. "I have to admit, it's somewhat surprising a request."

"What? Can't a girl just want to be pretty?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow and pouting at the same time.

"... I suppose it's your prerogative as a girl," Orochimaru admitted. "I admit, I do like my hair," he added. "The formula is rather simple, actually. Any chemist worth your time should be able to make it..."

"Cool!" Naruto said, grinning, "okay, now that we've got the important stuff out of the way," Naruto said, causing both of them to just shake their heads. "You said you had stuff for me."

"You are no doubt wondering who your parents were, am I correct?"

"... not really," Naruto admitted, nonchalantly. "They're dead, that's all that matters."

"That's very harsh," Orochimaru said, shaking his head. "Poor Minato-kun," he said, laughing softly, "to know that his daughter thinks him such an unimportant, minor detail..."

"He shouldn't have left me all alone if he wanted me to love him," Naruto said, her eyes narrowing. "I've got my knights, I don't need parents."

"I suppose it's not that surprising. Her position is understandable," Kabuto said, evenly. "And you are not one to talk about our parental figures being less than... shall we say, dear to us. I suppose that is one thing all three of us appear to have in common. How odd."

"Quiet, Kabuto," Orochimaru said. "Personal details are personal. Not all of us can be like yourself and lack any emotional attachment to our prior existence. Regardless... I suppose you are not interested in your mother, either."

"Nope. She lived, she died, that's all I care to know," Naruto said, shrugging. "If she was secretly an alien invader, that might be more interesting, though... she wasn't an alien, was she?"

"Depends on your definition," Orochimaru said, shaking his head. "But if you mean if she was from outside of this world... then no. Though where such an idea comes from, I would not-"

"I'm pretty much half alien at this point. I mean, I'm sharing head space with a computer program. I'm not even kidding. Also, my knights? Aliens too. And there's a whole alien civilization spanning loads upon loads of worlds that I invited to a pool party the other day," Naruto said, completely deadpan. "Aliens. They are a thing that exists."

"... That is... interesting," Orochimaru said, blinking slowly. "Perhaps... even more interesting than it might seem at first glance. Then... That book that was so often with you when you were a child... it comes from off planet? Curious, oh so very curious..."

"Whatever, it's not that important," Naruto said, waving her hand.

"Only you, Naruto-chan, could wave off something as huge as the discovery of the fact that we are not alone in the universe," Kabuto said, a bemused frown on his face.

"Yes, but this exchange has become that much more interesting, all of a sudden," Orochimaru said. "It appears I've struck gold."

Naruto shrugged.

"But I did make you a particular offer, didn't I, Naruto-chan?"

"Yep. You did. And as much as I'm interested in the secret behind your flawless complexion..."

Both Kabuto and Orochimaru seemed to smile a bit more widely. "That can be arranged. Again, it's not very difficult, the concoction is quite simple to make," Orochimaru explained.

"You know what I really came here for."

Orochimaru laughed once more. "Of course I do, Naruto-chan. Of course I do. And you have just proven yourself much, much more valuable than I initially expected. Why, this could be a deliciously and mutually profitable relationship..."

"Give me a moment... It appears that my knights are dumb and can't read."

* * *

"I think she might have just wandered off because she's more upset than she let on," Shamal said, sighing. "But... this is bad. I didn't think she'd be this badly affected..."

"I should have noticed," Signum said, her fist clenching. "I... wasn't paying the attention I should have!"

"You couldn't have noticed," Zafira said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Mistress... Mistress is an expert in hiding her emotions."

Vita raised an eyebrow and gave the guardian beast a questioning glance. "Mistress didn't-"

"Yes, she did," Zafira insisted. "Think about it. Can you honestly think of a time in which she was genuinelly upset? She always masked her real emotions. She was always either happy and upbeat... even when she was angry with us, she used that anger to hide what she really felt."

Signum looked at him. "She was only ever upset..."

"When we were hurt," Shamal said. "It was the only time she'd be upset enough to lose her tight lid on her emotions... and even then..."

"Naruto always got angry whenever I returned with so much as a scratch," Vita commented, frowning as she remembered several punishments she'd suffered for the act of returning home with a thin red line that came from dodging a kunai an instant too late. Looking back on it, she mused, she'd never used pain to get her point across. Hell, she actually flat out told them not to do things that would cause them pain. Of course, they went on to do them anyway, which led to more punishments.

While she'd never come so far as to actually hurt them, Vita had to admit that the punishments hurt in other ways.

"Fear," Shamal muttered.

The other three knights looked at her.

"The most frequent way to mask fear is anger," Shamal explained. "You see it in the hospital a lot. When they're deathly afraid, people become angry. It's also why people hate what they fear, their fear makes them angry, and they recognize the object they fear as the reason for their anger, and so begin to hate it," she noted. "Mistress... was afraid, but... why? She should know... we're just programs, we can be revived by the book... she knows it, so why-"

"I doubt it's conscious," Zafira said, shaking his head. "I very much doubt it."

Vita blinked. "... She can't think we're going to... Ugh, that idiot," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. "Well, we have to find her, I guess, so that we can-"

"Sit tight and do absolutely nothing."

Naruto's voice crashed through their conversation, causing them all to instantly jerk to attention.

"I gave you an order," Naruto said, her voice cold and anger evident. "Why are you not following it right now? Are you done?"

"We are almost do-" Signum began, however, she felt a cold shiver run down her spine, stopping her from continuing.

"I'll take that as a no. As soon as I get back, you'll ALL be punished!"

"Mistress!" Vita interrupted, "Where are yo-"

"I am having an important talk with the pale snakey guy, and I have no time for this. Now, for talking about me behind my back, I want all of you to complete the mission I gave you... and... I'll think of something else to punish you with later!"

The four knights looked at each other, feeling uneasy.

"Go get back to work!"

* * *

"... Pale snakey guy?" Orochimaru asked, flatly.

Kabuto smiled at him. "Well, you kinda do," he confirmed.

Orochimaru frowned. "It's the eyes, isn't it? I knew they were a bad idea."

"Oh, no, the eyes look lovely Orochimaru-sama, it's just that-"

Naruto looked at Orochimaru. "Well, that should get them off my case for a while. It's almost like they forget that I can listen in on their conversations."

"You can do that?" Kabuto asked, blinking.

"I'm their Master. I can read their minds if I want to. Though I need the book to do that, since I do literally read their minds," Naruto said, shrugging. "Huh. I just thought- I have a new way of deciding their punishments. I'll just ask them what they don't want to do, and then they'll think of it, and I'll do that," she said, nodding to herself. "That's genius!"

"... You are a rather cruel person. I like you," Orochimaru said, nodding. "Now, I do have a lab close by in which we can conduct the procedure I promised, and where our exchange can be complete. You should be coming home by dinner, Naruto-chan."

* * *

"She's a civilian. I can't legally do anything to reclaim her," Sarutobi said.

"Well it's a good thing we're ninja and not samurai, then, isn't it?" Jiraiya said with a grin.

Sarutobi shook his head. "It'd be less than productive. Naruto can take care of herself. Enough to run away, if she feels threatened. And it's clear that she doesn't, so... There has to be something here that we're not aware of. What does she want Orochimaru, and why would he be willing to meet with her?"

"I really have no idea. Maybe he wants her as a peace offering for the Akatsuki?" Jiraiya asked, frowning.

"I doubt it. He's afraid of them, yes, but he'd rather see them dead than ally with them again. Perhaps he intends to give her some sort of helping hand in an effort to get her to destroy his enemies..?" Sarutobi replied, punctuating the sentence by puffing up smoke from his pipe. "I don't know what we should do... If he is keeping her against her will, then he might hold her hostage. We can't let her get hurt. We'd be dealing with... well, I doubt the knights would take it well."

"Shit, this situation is a mess. Naruto keeps getting into one after another. Maybe we should tie her down with a leash or something, so she stops giving us so much trouble," Jiraiya said, a note of humor and amusement in his voice. "But... Nah, I don't think Orochimaru's holding her against her will."

"What makes you say that?" Sarutobi asked, his fingers intertwining.

"I have reasons to believe Orochimaru wouldn't hurt her. Amongst them, well, the Akatsuki, but there's another one," Jiraiya muttered. "I didn't think it could've been true, but... Before Uzushio was destroyed, Orochimaru was sent on a diplomatic mission there."

"Yes, I remember. He finalized the deal that would get us an Uzumaki to become our Jinchuuriki. I'd always wondered how he managed to secure their princess, of all people," Sarutobi said, closing his eyes for a moment.

"That was also the mission in which Orochimaru lost his virginity. I remember, 'cause I spent the entire week ribbing him about being a virgin before that."

"Merciful gods, you cannot be serious," Sarutobi said. "That boy, with his looks, was a virgin!?" he answered.

"You know how he was, half the village trying to get into his pants and he was just denying everyone. Would've thought he was gay if he wasn't also rejecting loads of men, too," Jiraiya said, waving his hand. "Anyway, you know where I'm going."

Sarutobi brought his hand up. "Well this does certainly change things," he said, grabbing his pipe and pulling it out of his mouth. "Do you think he..?"

"Almost certainly. And if not, he was our premier DNA specialist. I'm sure he can figure it out."

"... We need to inform the knights."

* * *

Naruto frowned. "Couldn't you have used a syringe? It would've been less painful!" she muttered, rubbing her arm.

"We could have, yes, but this is cleaner," Kabuto said, simply, waving about the container with the blood he'd just extracted. "Hm hm, despite your claims of being half alien, your blood looks just like mine. Let's see if a deeper analysis reveals anything more interesting."

Orochimaru chuckled and shook his head. "Limit yourself, Kabuto, there'll be time for deeper experimentation later. Now, however, we have a more... interesting procedure to engage in, to say the least."

"Just get it over with," Naruto said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm afraid we will not be using anesthesia, since it'd ruin the procedure, so here," Orochimaru said, handing Naruto a block of wood, "bite into this. It'll stop you from biting your tongue off."

"That's... not inspiring safety," Naruto muttered.

"If it makes you feel better, I've done this twice before, and they were both successes. I would never attempt this procedure on someone as important and valuable as yourself, without being certain it'd work. Mostly because there are several people willing and able to kill me who would be very, very angry if something happened to you," Orochimaru explained. "I can take Sensei if he's still hesitating to kill me. I won't survive if he's furious."

"I thought you could take the old man?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"I'm a scientist, primarily. I am also a ninja. I can take him if I cheat, a lot," Orochimaru said, "and part of that involves exploiting the fact that I know that, deep down, he still can't bring himself to truly kill me."

"Huh. That's really mean," Naruto said, glaring at him and the wooden block in her hand.

"I have my reasons. Now, I will be running a number of procedures, all of which would bore you extremely if I stopped to describe them. Much of it is pointless technical information that would fly straight over the layman's head, and the only other interested person in this room is Kabuto, who already knows everything he needs to," Orochimaru explained, nodding as he gestured towards a bed in the center of the pristine white lab.

"You know, I half expected a dirty, dank, dingy and drab dormitory or something similar," Naruto muttered, looking around at the perfectly maintained equipment that surrounded her.

"Dirty labs result in poor results," Kabuto said. "And, nice use of alliteration. However..."

"Yes, it's about time. In order to make you not be afraid and squirming, I will need you to cover your eyes. We'll kill two birds with one stone, pull your shirt over your head and use it to cover your face. That way, you won't see the procedure and it will be out of the way."

"... This is starting to sound like a stranger danger lecture," Kabuto muttered, shaking his head.

Naruto nodded and sat on the surprisingly comfy bed. She brought the block of wood to her mouth and bit on it, then grabbed the hem of her shirt with her hands and lifted it up over her head.

"Why does everyone keep assuming I'm a pedophile? And also, why does everyone keep assuming I'm gay?" Orochimaru asked, frowning at Kabuto.

"... Did you seriously just ask that- you know what, nevermind, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said, shaking his head.

"This isn't over..."

* * *

"Mistress appears to be in intense pain, but..." Zafira began, frowning.

"She's still sensible enough to order us to stay put," Shamal said, shaking her head. "Are you certain that-"

"Orochimaru is a perverse animal, but he knows that hurting Naruto would be suicidal. If nothing else, he fears death supremely, and he will not take such a gigantic risk as it'd be. He's afraid of me, he knows I can take him, and he knows I can make it permanent, or damn near close to anyway," Jiraiya said, scowling. "I don't like it any better, but at this point, all we've got to go on is Naruto's word. We'll just have to wait."

Lindy frowned. The Hokage's office felt quite a bit more stuffy than it had mere moments ago. "The book, is it-"

"It's complete, yes. It's awaiting Naruto's command to awaken fully," Signum said, simply.

"Then... the corruption truly is gone. In all other instances, the book would activate on its own," Lindy said, "it's a silver lining on dark clouds, at the very least."

"The corruption now resides within our mistress, eating away at her from the inside," Zafira said, solemnly.

"Excuse me if I'm not jumping for joy," Vita added, dryly.

"It was 'leaping'," Zafira said, shaking his head. "You really do need to work on the punchline," he said, shaking his head.

"Finding humor in dark times is difficult," Lindy commented. "I'd say give her a pass just for that."

"So long as the joke isn't in poor taste, for obvious reasons," Sarutobi said. "Then, should we-"

The four knights instantly leaped to their feet, all gathering together, standing at attention. "Mistress..!"

The Hokage changed from the kindly old man that he usually portrayed to Konohagakure's military leader. "Something went wrong."

"Something went very, very wrong," Lindy added, looking at the Wolkenritter's faces.

"She's... angry," Shamal said, shaking her head.

"That wasn't angry. She's gone berserk," Zafira said, frowning. "Something went very wrong."

"That's not important right now. She's heading here," Signum said. "We have to..."

They all paused.

"If she's furious... then we'll provide her a way to calm her temper. Get her anger out of her system. When she winds down, we'll talk," Sarutobi said.

The others nodded.

"Do you know where she's-" Lindy began, turning to the others.

"She's coming for Nanoha," Vita said.

"... No. She's not," Lindy said, a frown on her face. "Nanoha contacted me just now. She's already here."

* * *

"Hello, Nanoha-chan!" Naruto said, brightly, grinning widely and closing her eyes. She floated idly in the sky, moving slowly, almost as if the wind was carrying her. "How are you? Are you tired? Hungry? Do you feel a bit under the weather at all?"

"Not at all," Nanoha replied. "How are you, Naruto-chan? We were all a bit worried."

"I was with a friend!" Naruto said, grinning. "He helped me lots!" she added.

"Really?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head. "What did he help you with?"

"Well, he helped remind me of a few things. But that's not important, or fun," Naruto said, shaking her head. "You wouldn't happen to be busy, right now, would you?"

Nanoha frowned a little. "I think I am free for the rest of the day. Raising Heart, did I log anything for today?"

"No Master," the device replied.

"Well, I'm free," Nanoha said, grinning just as widely as Naruto. "Do you want to go get ice cream?" she asked.

"Actually, Nanoha-chan, I was wondering if you'd like to have a rematch," Naruto said, opening her eyes finally and locking gazes with Nanoha.

"Uhm... Naruto-chan, why are your eyes red?" Nanoha asked, somewhat unsettled by the reminder of Fate's appearance.

"My eyes? My eyes are blue, Nanoha-chan! Just like the sky!" Naruto said, shaking her head vigorously and smiling. "Well, what do you say?"

Nanoha shrugged. "I guess I can. Let's go to the Asu-"

"Right here, right now. I will show you. I'm not that weak little girl anymore. I'll show everyone. And I'll start with you, Nanoha-chan... I'll surpass you. I'll show everyone that I'm the strongest."

Feeling an odd and uncomfortable sensation rooting into her stomach, Nanoha raised Raising Heart and held it diagonally in front of her, in a simple stance meant to parry weaponry. "Ready when you are, Naruto-chan," Nanoha said.

There was something deeply wrong. Naruto, while enthusiastic, was never like this. This wasn't enthusiasm. This wasn't even a fighting or training nut's idea of it.

No...

Nanoha felt something very, very different coming from Naruto.

She reeked of something else.

"NachtWal," Naruto commanded, holding her right hand out. A flash of light heralded the appearance of a long spear, ornate in design, silver in color. A pair of black wings adorned the head, which was that of a simple pike. The spear was as long as Naruto was tall, making it technically a short spear.

"Heisse?" the spear answered.

"Barrier," Naruto commandered.

"Das ich soil," the spear replied.

The world changed. "The battlefield is set," Naruto said, looking at Nanoha. "It's just you and me now."

Nanoha's grip on Raising Heart tightened. She had a bad feeling.

* * *

Heisse? = Orders?

Das Ich Soil = That I Shall.

It's a combination of middle and high Old German. Thought it more appropriate for Ancient Belkan than modern German. Incidentally, the Knights' Belkan is still modern German. It's because NachtWal and Reinforce predate the Guardian Knight System and use an even older dialect of Ancient Belkan.

And yes, that IS what the germanic civilizations of Age of Empires say. NachtWal is gonna be quoting your Teutons for a while.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 22: Start of the End

* * *

Nanoha blinked.

The spear was already within her guard, and she had barely an instant to twist out of the way, twisting herself so that the spear passed harmlessly right in front of her face, followed by Naruto herself, as Nanoha felt Raising Heart pull her out of the way using Flash Move. Here eyes widened when a spell she recognized fairly well was cast immediately upon the spot she'd vacated.

Sensing the change in their target's location, the daggers Naruto had conjured exploded into motion and flew towards Nanoha, spreading in nine different directions so as to minimize the avenues of escape. Recognizing the flaw upon such a pattern, Nanoha immediately dashed forward. Though quick and capable of incredibly sharp turns, the daggers couldn't quite adjust quickly enough for how widely they'd fanned, and as such, crashed harmlessly into each other just behind Nanoha.

"Raising Heart," Nanoha shouted, "Round Shield!"

Her instincts were right, Nanoha mused, as she brought her staff forwards and pointed it at the direction she'd seen Naruto fly towards just moments before. A white beam struck Nanoha's shield and was repelled, dispersing into nothingness.

Taking a deep breath, Nanoha considered for a moment the situation she found herself in. There was a drastic change to Naruto's fighting. She'd always been quick on the uptake, for certain, capable of moving on her feet even to the point that she could somewhat bridge the massive gap in experience little by little as they fought. However, her inexperience had always shown and had allowed Nanoha to keep hammering in certain points.

Naruto had a lot of waste in her movement and magic, and that was what Nanoha had tried to curb, to get her to do less overkill and more efficient movement.

Right now, however... if anything, Naruto was using surprisingly little in the way of power. She seemed to be... undercharging her spells, which was just bizzarre for someone with as much power as she had. Otherwise, Nanoha's shield would've shattered and she would've had to dodge the attack. Plus, she'd only conjured nine daggers, which was a small number, considering Naruto knew full well Nanoha could dodge them all.

Another volley of daggers shot towards Nanoha, who narrowed her eyes. There was a strange smile on Naruto's face, somewhat vacant. Like she was just indulging a child while thinking of something completely different. It seemed like she was very confident.

Very well, then. She was the one who wanted a fight. And her behavior was being... very weird. Even for Naruto, which was saying something. So might as well get answers the old fashioned way. That one never failed to work. "Divine Buster!" Nanoha commanded.

"Divine Buster," Raising Heart replied, unleashing Nanoha's spell. The four daggers that had taken the center, direct path towards her were obliterated by the pink beam, and it continued on towards Naruto, moving even faster than the daggers that were still in mid-air, forcing Naruto to release the spell so she could shield. Without her consciousness guiding them, the Bloody Daggers harmlessly flew past Nanoha, though one did manage to graze her, cutting through the puffed up shoulder of her Barrier Jacket. Fortunately, she was far from hurt by it, and it was mostly a cosmetic detail.

The Divine Buster crashed against Naruto, who seemed to just put her free forearm in front of it. Apparently, she was still fond of having a physical shield to hold onto. Nanoha couldn't really blame her, as it worked. She supposed that the fact that the shield would remain until broken or dismissed would make up for its greater consumption of energy.

Nanoha pointed Raising Heart at her enemy. "Axel Shooter!"

The spheres of pink light that gathered around her were improved, since the last time she'd used this spell. She'd actually been training with Fate when the thought of how slow the bullets could be, and how difficult it was to hit a fast target, much like Fate herself. Naruto was bound to be a bit surprised. Particularly because Nanoha would show her how to actually use a proper multidirectional barrage.

A cartridge was consumed and two dozen spheres were created. This was straining the absolute limits of Nanoha's control, but that was okay, she would give them a fairly simple order.

"Shoot," Raising Heart confirmed, and all the bullets shot towards the target. Four went directly fourwards, ten spread much like Naruto's own daggers and six made an obvious attempt at sneaking up behind her.

All of those were a diversion. Naruto backed up a bit and blocked a few while using her spear to bat away some of the others.

There'd been four bullets that hadn't accompanied the rest. Nanoha sent two directly downwards and two directly upwards. If she'd gauged Naruto correctly, then...

She would take the fight to melee, which was exactly what she did. Instead of dodging like last time, however, Nanoha parried with Raising Heart and kneed Naruto's stomach, stunning her slightly. Taking a step back, Nanoha commanded her remaining bullets to converge on the target, and they did, shooting at incredible speeds and slamming onto Naruto, who was completely unprepared for the surprise combination.

However, her Barrier Jacket proved its defensive capabilities were still top notch, as she hadn't taken much damage from the four bullets that had impacted. Still, Nanoha couldn't let up right now, and so she stepped forward, metaphorically as she was in mid air, and once more utilized Raising Heart in a way no one could've predicted. After all, who would've expected a bombardment-spec'ed Intelligent Device would wind up being used as a makeshift quarterstaff?

Nanoha went for a simple vertical attack, bringing the staff down right on top of Naruto's head, a basic move and easily predictable given the motions that went into it.

Naruto blocked with her shield, but when she tried to use her own weapon, she'd found out that Nanoha wasn't just throwing an extremely predictable attack that she hadn't planned further for. She had, after all, been trained by a ninja master, and as such, knew the value of cheating in the middle of a fight. Being raised by a family of questionable repute certainly gave her a more... accepting mentality.

So when Naruto drew the spear back to stab, she found Nanoha's foot had taken advantage of her open-legged stance to find its way right to her groin.

Now, whoever has told you that a groin attack doesn't work on a female is a very big liar whose pants should be set on fire, as Naruto had just discovered by the immense pain, which caused her to stop her attack.

Nanoha pressed forward and repeated her earlier attack, abusing the fact that Naruto was bent over and striking at the back of her head, causing her to lose control of her flight spell for a moment, destabilizing her long enough for Nanoha to press on the assault.. Taking advantage of the three dimensional nature of mid air fights, Nanoha floated until she was right above Naruto and pointed Raising Heart down. "Divine Buster!" she incanted, and Raising Heart obeyed, unleashing her trusty go-to bombardment spell on her opponent.

However, before it could hit her, Naruto burst into smoke and simply disappeared, being instead replaced by what appeared to be a perfectly cut log that was promptly destroyed by Nanoha's Divine Buster.

Nanoha blinked and looked around. Raising Heart warned her within her mind and she took a dive, dodging a fairly large red lance that hurtled towards the ground.

"You missed, Nanoha-chan," Naruto said, as Nanoha turned to the direction the red lance'd come from. "but I missed too. This is a lot more fun than last time!"

Speak about yourself, Nanoha mused. She'd had a bad feeling before the fight started, and now it was clear why. Naruto was fighting like a totally different person. Last time, Nanoha had always been two or even three steps ahead, dominating the fight entirely from start to finish, but the fight they'd just had... it felt like Naruto hadn't even put that much effort into it. It seemed like she was taking the beatdown Nanoha'd just given her in stride.

As if she'd hardly felt it.

Noticing that she'd lost control of her breathing rhythm, Nanoha decided to take a moment to gather herself while Naruto seemed content to just float there in gloating fashion. She'd... grown too much in too short a time. From what she'd heard from everyone, Naruto was improving with every fight, but this was too much of a difference. If she improved at this rate... "Naruto-chan, are you really in control of yourself right now?" Nanoha asked.

She really had to know.

"Whatever do you mean? Who else could be controlling my body?" Naruto asked, tilting her head to the side.

"The defense program," Nanoha said, bluntly. "It's corrupted, right? It could be trying to take over you," Nanoha explained.

"NachtWal wouldn't do that, silly!" Naruto countered. "It can't do that," she added. "Because it's my servant. It does what I say. Not the other way around, so get that right," she said, though it was clear she was a bit annoyed at having to clarify it. "Anyway... I'll defeat you, Nanoha-chan! And then, you'll be mine too."

"Uh... that's... kinda creepy actually," Nanoha admitted. "Are you SURE you're okay?" she asked, somewhat worried now.

But of course, she expected the positive she got. After all, she doubted Naruto could even notice. Her reaction to being asked about her eyes was telling enough, in hindsight. Well... the worst case scenario was here, the Defense Program had managed to corrupt Naruto, it seemed.

Far be it from Nanoha to let it affect her, however. After all, despite everything else, Naruto was her friend, and Nanoha would fight to help her friends, no matter how dangerous and difficult the path she had to forge would be. "Listen to me, Naruto-chan... I'm your friend, okay? I care about you."

"But you want to leave," Naruto said, tilting her head. "How can you be my friend if you want to leave me all alone? You're just like the rest. But that's okay," she said with a smile. "I won't let you leave. That way, we'll be friends forever!"

Nanoha frowned. Naruto's words were unsettling, but there wasn't much she could do. For the moment... she'd have to defend herself, and defeat Naruto. For some reason, people just always refused to talk unless she beat some sense into them first.

"Well, playtime's over, Nanoha-chan. It seems people are arriving all over to interrupt us! And I don't want that, so I'm going to have to end this now... I'm sorry if it hurts, but it'll just hurt for a second, okay?" Naruto said, seemingly truly apologetic, as she held her shield hand forward, the palm facing the open air. A brown blur appeared into existence, heralding the appearance of the Tome of the Night Sky.

Nanoha blinked. What could...

Oh.

Naruto opened the book. The writing inside began to glow brightly, illuminating Naruto in the distorted sky. The shadows gave her face a sinister appearance, not aided by Naruto's perfectly happy expression, one that Nanoha knew was no different than the one she wore in more appropriate moments, such as playing with her friends.

If anything, it just made it more unsettling.

"Are you ready to fight for real, Nanoha-chan?" Naruto asked. "Well, ready or not, here I come..!"

Nanoha was instantly pulled out of the way by Raising Heart, and she only had a second to realize that another red, spear-shaped bolt had just gone through the spot she'd occupied not a moment ago, because she was immediately set upon by Naruto. Nanoha instantly countered the lead in spear stab, but quickly found out that Naruto could predict all of her movements with ease, adapting to them before she even began the combination that the Hokage had taught her.

"... You have his Linker Core," Nanoha muttered. "You know his moves better than I do," she reasoned.

"Bingo!" Naruto congratulated, as her hand grabbed onto Raising Heart's shaft. "I also know yours!" she added.

"You prepared for this," Nanoha muttered. "That was why... That was why you had the knights ask us!"

"I was born and raised in a ninja village, Nanoha-chan. Cheating is kind of in my blood," Naruto admitted, only looking the slightest bit sheepish. "You're very good! I wouldn't be able to beat you if I wasn't cheating. NachtWal told me what you were going to do before you did it, though I would've appreciated it if you hadn't kicked me down there, you know..." Naruto said, pouting at Nanoha.

"I gathered that," Nanoha answered, dryly. "I fight dirty, too, but I guess preparation won out. Well, you've won," she admitted, noting that the tip of Naruto's spear was pressed against her side, and in particular, at the angle she was holding it at, it would take only a little effort to make it pierce her kidneys.

"Thank you," Naruto said, smiling at Nanoha. "Now you're mine... I'll keep you with me," she said, taking a step back, but not removing the spear from Nanoha's side.

All around her, Nanoha saw the distorted sky generated by the barrier crack like glass before it shattered, revealing the familiar dark blue night sky.

"What are you-" Nanoha's eyes widened when she noticed the fact that Naruto was holding the Tome of the Night Sky on her free hand, and was now holding it opened, right in front of her face.

"Sammlung," the book said, and Nanoha felt the world fade away, as everything turned black.

Naruto smiled and turned around. She twirled her spear and then let it dissipate, as she took a deep breath.

"... Why... Why would you do something like that, Naruto-chan? Weren't we... friends?"

The blonde's smile widened as she turned around and met with her fellow blonde. Unnaturally red eyes met natural red eyes. Bright crimson versus a darker, deeper color, closer to that of blood. "Next, Fate-chan, is your turn."

"We're not going to let you do this," the boy leading the TSAB squad said. "You will be stopped."

Naruto laughed.

"You can't defeat all of us," the same boy said, almost as if he were trying to get her to back down peacefully.

A reddish haze began to saturate the air around her. "You're right. I can't defeat all of you. Not at this level, not alone" Naruto confirmed. The red haze seemed to grow thicker by the moment, and soon enough, what appeared to be red tattoos, much like vines, began spreading all over Naruto's exposed skin. "I am the Ruler of the Night Sky. I am never alone."

The boy's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. His instincts had to be screaming at him, and so he gave the order to disperse.

"Death Beam," the book incanted.

Naruto had moved faster than the naked eye could track, and she was holding a single finger forward. If one followed it, it would point straight towards the boy's heart, though he had since dashed out of the way. Instead, her finger pointed at the operative standing behind the boy, though being at a slightly lower elevation meant that the attack that would've hit their leader on the heart instead impacted the man's shoulder, as he was too slow to fully get himself out of the way. Despite the impact being on his shoulder, the man was very clearly knocked out of the fight, unconscious, and he had to be evacuated.

* * *

Fate blinked. She'd barely been able to see the pinkish beam that sped through the air and almost hit Chrono. She, who was the fastest in the group, could barely even see Naruto's movement.

There was no time.

Fate discarded all of the excess defenses from her Barrier Jacket, lightening the load as much as she could and streamlining it to its very limit. "Sonic Form," she ordered, and Bardiche complied. The device then promptly consumed one of the devices it had charged and changed into Zanber form.

There was no time to waste, Fate knew better than to hold back. Naruto had defeated Nanoha. There was no telling how strong she'd become in her madness.

Using her speed to its limit, Fate rushed Naruto head on, and swung the energy blade much like the massive broadsword it was. Though it was designed for the express purpose of cutting through an enemy's barriers, the Zanber form was nonetheless stopped by Naruto's shield. Fate was somewhat satisfied at seeing the grunt and scowl of effort that showed her that despite first glances, Naruto was actually having to put in some effort to keep up with her in Sonic Form.

For the moment, though, she knew exactly what her role was. If her suspicion was correct, she'd be their only hope at keeping Naruto occupied with melee combat.

She had only one question in her mind as she tried to push Bardiche through Naruto's shield. "Why!?"

* * *

Nanoha's eyes opened, and she stared up at the infinite blue sky. There were only a couple of clouds floating around to break up the monotonic blue.

"Huh. I thought it'd be... gloomier," she said, blinking. "So, I guess this is the inside of the book..?" she mused. "Damn, Naruto-chan got really, really good! Caught me totally unaware!" she said, shaking her head, then she looked around.

It was a bit freaky, because she could see nothing but the sky, no matter where she looked. Even when she looked down, it was the sky that greeted her.

She began flying aimlessly for a while before picking a direction and rushing forwards, trying to see if she found something, anything, that was different, but...

The clouds never seemed to get any closer. The sky never revealed anything.

There was nothing around her.

It was just an empty space...

"Hello."

Or it'd been, until Nanoha finally found something... or rather, since the voice she'd heard came from behind her, she'd been found, rather.

It was a mature, but distinctly female, voice, and Nanoha found it strangely melodious, though it was also guarded. She turned around and was met, face to face, with a silver haired woman dressed... exactly like she'd seen Naruto dress. It was her barrier jacket, of that there was no doubt, but... well, Nanoha had to admit it looked much better on an actually adult body. "Hello," Nanoha said. "My name is Takamachi Nanoha," she introduced herself, bowing slightly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you face to face, Miss Takamachi," the woman said, giving her a slightly strained smile and bowing a little herself. "I wish we could meet under better circumstances, but... I am afraid time is of the essence."

"Huh? What's going on?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head. She was a bit surprised. Even if she half expected whoever this was not to introduce herself, well, it was still quite rude.

"My mistress needs you," the woman said, bluntly.

"You mean Naruto?" Nanoha asked, frowning. "She's... she's acting very strangely," Nanoha said. "It's... it's the corruption, isn't it?"

The woman frowned. "Yes and... well, also no," she said. "It's complicated. In a sense, Naruto is fully in control of herself, and at the same time, she isn't, not really," the woman explained. "You will understand shortly. For now, follow me. We will need to leave this limbo. I was able to interfere with the book when it absorbed you, and I was able to change your destination to here, in order for us to meet."

"Uhm... Thank you..?" Nanoha said, quite confused.

"The book intended to create a paradise for you, in which you would then live the rest of your days, where you would not want to leave. That way, you would be within the book, within the mistress' possessions, and you'd be happy," the woman explained, turning around. "Follow me. I am acting against my mistress' orders, and it's possible if she is alerted of this she might stop me, and I can't..." She shook her head. "Let's move. We'll need to take the long route..."

Nanoha nodded.

The woman launched at an incredible speed towards a seemingly random direction. Alone and otherwise having nothing else to do, Nanoha decided to follow her.

It would feel like hours of flight before they were finally able to cross some sort of threshold. All of a sudden, the scenery of the sky simply... vanished. Nanoha blinked, and looked all around herself. They were standing in the middle of a city. A city she somewhat knew, even if it was strange and distorted. "Where did the sky go?" she asked, looking upwards only to see... well, it kinda looked like the sky, but... it was weird. She couldn't quite describe it very well, and...

"You can't quite perceive it," the woman said. "But what you are seeing is what passes for the sky within this world. I'm surprised that was your first question, given our surroundings."

And...

Nanoha had to admit, she'd asked just to keep her mind off their rather bizzarre surroundings. She was in what appeared to be Konoha's main street, the one that led to the Hokage Tower and the monument, but...

She knew the tower was the northern end of this road, so she used it to guide herself. To her south west, Konoha looked mostly normal. To her north west, howerver... everything looked like rundown slums. The north east seemed to entirely lack color, instead being fully in grayscale. But the weirdest had to be the south east, which seemed to be a crayon painting, all done in pastel colors.

After a minute or so of walking, which Nanoha only just now noticed she'd been doing, she blinked and found herself right in front of... a massively oversized Hokage Tower.

The front gates, however, weren't open, as was usually the case. In fact, they were locked down with four thick iron chains, all of which came together right in front of the gate and were kept tightly in place with a large, heavy looking padlock, which also encircled the handles of the doors.

"What... what is this-"

"The Tome of the Night Sky is very deeply connected to Naruto and her mind. Perhaps more deeply than any master it's ever had before her, because of her... peculiar circumstances. What you are seeing right now, is the tome's representation of Naruto's mindscape."

"... Her... mind?" Nanoha asked. "So, then-"

"Yes, we are withing my mistress' mind. From here on out, we are safe from detection, but it's best not to test our luck so we should keep a low profile regardless," the woman said, closing her eyes. Nanoha absent mindedly noted that they were the same burning crimson of Naruto's... How odd.

"You said you needed my help," Nanoha said. "It's for her sake, isn't it?"

"Indeed," the woman said. "Mistress... is in pain."

Nanoha mused that one would hardly notice Naruto was in pain, given her usual attitude, but she nevertheless nodded, prompting the woman to continue.

"I understand you have a vague idea of what Mistress' life has been like. I won't waste our time with a repeat," the woman said, crossing her arms. "What I need from you is help healing mistress' mind from within."

"Healing her mind?" Nanoha asked. "How would I help you do that?"

"It's rather simple. Mistress is a very distant person. As affectionate as she acts, it is very difficult for her to trust people. It is very difficult for her to form attachment. I was... very surprised to see how quickly she developed affection for you," the woman said, bluntly. "I was also a bit shocked by how quickly you took to her, yourself, but I will not complain."

"Naruto-chan is very lovable, even if she's a bit selfish and whiny sometimes," Nanoha said, smiling and scratching the back of her neck. "Ehm- forget I said that, okay?" Nanoha said.

The woman smiled. "I agree with your assesment," she said, "and so does Naruto herself."

Nanoha blinked, but shook her head. "Anyway, you said-"

"Ah, yes," the woman interrupted. "What we will need to do is simple. Right now, Mistress' mind is fragmented. Look around you. This city represents Mistress' memories, her thoughts, her feelings, her world and how she sees it. It should be uniform, it should be organized and neat... but it is not. It is a chaotic mess. It has been... broken."

Nanoha gasped. "Then, what you said-"

"Yes, technically, it is still my mistress moving her body, right now, but it is a mere fraction of the complete thing. The very defense mechanism that she developed to combat her loneliness and the harshness of an uncaring world is now working against her, to keep her from doing what she truly wants to do. Right now, she is responding to a simple, base fear..."

"Loneliness..." Nanoha muttered. "She thought... that me and Fate-chan would be leaving forever, that we'd never see her again, so..."

"Correct," the woman said. "In order to stop her, her fear must be defeated, and for that, she must come to terms with it..."

"And to come to terms with, and defeat, it... she must confront the cause," Nanoha muttered. "But, how do I-"

"Nanoha-chan, Naruto-chan is not strong enough to do it on her own. She is afraid. So very afraid... I cannot help her. Because... I am her possession. She knows without a shadow of a doubt that I cannot say no to her, and she knows that my support is unconditional... and she also knows that it is not originally by my choice. So..."

"But- that-," Nanoha shook her head. "Your love- it isn't any different!" she shouted.

"It isn't. I love mistress either way," the woman said, nodding in agreement. Nanoha shuddered a little when the woman's voice seemed to crack a bit as she spoke. "But unfortunately... mistress' heart is wounded. I have no doubt that she loves me, as she loves all her knights, dearly... and it pains me even more to know that I cannot help her... that is why... I'm," the woman then dropped to her knees "I'm begging you, Nanoha-chan... Save my mistress, save her from her own pain!"

Nanoha took a step back. "I-" then she shook her head and her face was overcome with determination. "You don't have to beg me... I will help Naruto-chan! She's my friend!"

The woman blinked. There were tears in her eyes, and it was clear that quite a few had already rolled down her cheeks.

Nanoha went to her knees and put her hands on the woman's shoulders. "I will... I will save Naruto-chan!"

"Thank you, Nanoha-chan..." the woman said. "I... apologize for my casual use of your name, I-"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Nanoha said, waving her hand. "It'd feel weird if you called me Takamachi-san! I'd be looking for my older brother!" Nanoha admitted, smiling as she tried to lighten up the situation. "Now... Naruto-chan needs us, so... what do you say we get started?"

The woman nodded, bringing a hand up to wipe her tears. "Again... thank you... and..." she took a deep breath, clearly trying to steady both herself and return her voice to normality. "You're right. We should get started. Right now, Nanoha-chan, we are at the center of Naruto's mind. What we need is locked within this tower. Right now, we need to unlock it, and as you might have guessed..."

"There are four 'locks' on it, right?" Nanoha tried.

"Correct... and the city..."

"Is also divided in four parts," Nanoha said, nodding. "I understand, now... Well then, shall we go?" she asked, offering the woman her hand.

The woman smiled and grabbed Nanoha's hand, allowing the smaller girl to pull her up to her feet. "Let us begin by Naruto-chan's earliest memories..."

Nanoha nodded.

Together, they turned to the south east.

The Crayon-painted Konoha was their destination.

Despite her determination, Nanoha couldn't help but feel trepidation creep up on her. She was within Naruto's mind. Within her very soul...

Nanoha took a deep breath and swallowed as she began to walk, keeping in line with the woman, even though her legs were longer. Nanoha felt the woman squeeze her hand, and she squeezed right back. It was a simple, mutual gesture of support. They were united for a common purpose.

And Nanoha would not fail to save her friend.

* * *

Fate's arms gave, her strength overcome by her opponent's, and she was pushed back, the shield bash easily breaking her makeshift guard and, if she wasn't mistaken, also her nose.

Naruto's hand moved, and she had the book in her hand before Fate could even recover, the shield hand now pointing, open palm, at Fate herself.

"Sammlung," Naruto declared.

However, as the book opened, a green chain wrapped around Fate's waist and pulled her out of the way.

The spell was cancelled, and Naruto looked somewhat upset.

Naruto huffed. "You interrupted me..." she muttered. Then she looked around. The unit of TSAB mages that had come after her had surrounded her, and they'd all launched heavy duty bombardment spells at her.

Clicking her tongue, Naruto seemed to curl up into a ball in the sky for a moment before she spread all of her limbs entirely and let loose a massive wave of energy. It was the strangest form of barrier that any present had encountered, until they realized it wasn't so much a barrier as it was, in and of itself, a form of attack, an expanding energy wave in the shape of a sphere!

Chrono telepathically gave orders for all to retreat before it touched them, and the mages dropped their attacks and put more distance between themselves and the attack.

Naruto pouted. "You're all boring," she said, petulantly, before she crossed her arms and glared at them. To Chrono, she even went as far as sticking her tongue out. "You suck!"

Fate saw this as an opportunity, and she nodded at Yuuno, who floated a few paces back, close enough to pull her back out if it became necessary. She then looked at Chrono, who nodded as well.

It was time to work in concert, then.

* * *

So... yeah.

What did Orochimaru do to Naruto that had her go crazy, exactly?

You'll see soon enough.

Turns out a couple of scenes went WAAAAAAAAAAY longer than I intended them to be. Anyway, we're approaching the end, people...


	23. Chapter 23

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 23: First of Four

* * *

"Nanoha!"

Nanoha blinked. She just realized she'd been somewhat entranced by the scenery around her. It was... hard to describe. It was eye catching, yet at the same time she wished she could look away and find something else to look at. It was beautiful, in a strange sort of way, cute, adorable, and yet at the same time, she couldn't help but feel disturbed by its existence, and her head was beginning to ache the more she observed of the world around her.

She walked forward a few steps, trying her best to ignore the fact that she really did feel like she was walking on crayon wax, even though her barrier jacket's sturdy shoes should make feeling that impossible. It didn't clear her head. Despite the presence of it everywhere, she couldn't actually smell the wax of the crayons. Instead, all she could smell was... flowers. She couldn't specify which, it just smelled like flowers during spring.

Looking around herself, Nanoha tried to see if she could locate herself in Konoha, but found that it was impossible. The fact that everything was painted in bright oranges, pinks and other such garish colors and done in such a crude way meant that she couldn't recognize anything at all, if she had even been to this part of Konoha ever before. Considering there were places in Uminari she didn't know, she guessed it wasn't likely she'd recognize this place in Konoha.

"Nanoha!"

Taking a deep breath and once more shaking her head, Nanoha walked towards one of the buildings. She reminded herself that the reason there were no sidewalks in Konoha was that there was no cars, which made her feel a bit silly looking at both ends of the crayon street before crossing. Once she found herself right next to it, she touched one of the walls with her bare hand, running her hand over the rough surface. It truly did feel like it was made of crayon...

Frowning, Nanoha moved to the door and paid a bit more mind to it.

The doorknob was painted on. In her mind, she could make up the three dimensional picture of it but...

Her eyes were telling her it was flat. That there was no third dimension. It was long, it was wide, but it was shallow. She blinked and moved her hand towards it. Her hand wrapped around the flat surface, and she was shocked to find she could touch it but... she still couldn't see a third dimension. She could feel it, for certain. Her hand certainly felt like it'd wrapped around something, but...

"NANOHA!"

It didn't budge, when she tried to turn it. Frowning, Nanoha took a deep breath to clear her head and turned around, taking a few steps forward only to land face first against someone's torso. Fortunately, she wasn't tall enough to bury her face in marshmallow hell. Unfortunately, she was small and light enough that she couldn't make her obstacle budge and as such landed on her bum moments afterwards, entirely surprised at the sudden obrusion.

"Mou, that hurt," Nanoha muttered, her hands instantly making their way to her bottom to dust it off the crayon as she hastily stood up. "Why did you-"

"You were in a bit of a trance."

Nanoha blinked. "I... Oh."

Right. She had been. This woman, she recognized her. It was... the avatar of the book.

"What happened?" Nanoha asked. "I-"

"You're in a plane of existence that does not quite function like your own. It's... somewhat affected your mind," the avatar said. "Keep your wits about you. If you get distracted, you'll probably end up wandering until Mistress discovers you poking around her mind, and given how absent minded she is, that won't happen soon," she explained, shaking her head. "Try to concentrate."

Nanoha nodded. "Where should we go?"

"There's only one real way to go," the avatar stated, moving towards one of the sidestreets and making a show of stopping just short of going into it, raising her hand and putting it against... an invisible wall, apparently.

"What..?" Nanoha was a bit confused.

"It's painted," the avatar stated, before cocking her fist back and smacking the wall with an open hand, the sound being unmistakably that of striking wood. "While this is in Konoha's shape, it's important to note that Mistress hasn't been everywhere in Konoha, and it's based on her memories," the avatar explained. "Let us move."

Nanoha nodded. "Yes, let's," she agreed, shivering a little. It was all just so... distracting, there were so many things to look at and so many to-

"Nanoha!"

Letting out an embarrassed little laugh and scratching the back of her neck, Nanoha gathered her wits about her and chased after the tall woman.

* * *

Naruto flew back as soon as Fate darted in, slashing about with Bardiche's gigantic sword form. Despite the massive speed difference Fate had put between them, it seemed that Naruto's reflexes were good enough to keep her in the game. As fast as Fate was moving, Naruto was always one step ahead, and even when Fate closed the gap, Naruto always had either her shield or spear ready to deflect an attack she couldn't dodge.

But it was okay. Fate was merely there to distract her.

"Stinger Snipe."

Distract her long enough for that to happen. Fate quickly gave Bardiche a mental order to change modes, changing its configuration to the one she was most familiar with.

Naruto's eyes widened for an instant and she turned around bringing her shield to her front in a sweeping motion which answered Chrono's spell with violence, deflecting it.

Of course, Fate was now behind her, and with a very, very open back to strike at.

"Plasma Slicer," Bardiche intoned.

Naruto's Barrier Jacket was extremely good in the defensive department, and Fate was fully aware she'd need an armor piercer to even make her feel it. Given that she could shrug off Nanoha's bombardment magic, Fate tried instead a very highly concentrated cutter, which struck Naruto's back.

"Replacement," the robotic voice from Naruto's spear interrupted, and Fate's spell continued to cut through its target, slicing... a log in half. Fate was frustrated.

She didn't get long to be frustrated, however.

"Gungnir!"

Naruto had launched a red spear that looked more like a giant arrow towards her, and Fate knew that she was still reeling from her failed attack.

"Defenser Plus," Bardiche called, and a yellow barrier appeared right in front of Fate, circular in shape.

The spear crashed against it and tore through it like it were made of paper, but before it could strike at Fate, a green barrier, more complex in shape and more numerous in circles, appeared a few centimeters in front of the blonde's torso, where the spell would have struck her. The spear was lodged against it, pushing and trying to break through... stopping long enough for Fate to get her bearings and throw herself out of the way.

With the sound of crashing glass, the spear went right through the barrier, dissipating harmlessly in the distance.

"Meanie!" Naruto yelled, apparently trying to stamp her foot in mid air, only to slightly lose her balance as she did.

Proving that they were professionals, the TSAB mages instantly seized on the opportunity, launching a full frontal assault.

"You're nothing!" Naruto sneered, bringing her shield forward and weathering the assault like it was nothing. Of course, it was wrong to assume that the frontal assault was anything more than a diversion, as Naruto found out when two mages sent a pair of dark blue beams at her back, which caused her to stumble forward and lose her guard for an instant, long enough for the others to pounce on.

"Replacement," the robotic voice from Naruto's spear once more called out.

"Now!" Chrono shouted, though Fate belatedly realized it'd been a telepathic shout as she rushed to the spot Chrono had indicated.

Sure enough, Naruto appeared in a burst of smoke right there, and she seemed surprised to note that she'd been caught. Fate brought Bardiche, in its scythe form, down on Naruto, who raised her spear like a horizontal bar to block the shaft of her weapon. It seemed she'd caught on to their tactic, because she used her shield to block Chrono's follow up Stinger Blades, proving that her shield was strong enough to withstand the barrier piercing shots.

"Gotcha!" somebody shouted, and Naruto soon found out that this was a multipart attack on several fronts.

Green bands of energy wrapped around Naruto. "Capture Bind, success," Yuuno stated as he floated down to be right in front of Naruto, both his hands showing the shackles that represented his focus on the binds.

Naruto grit her teeth and her expression changed from the somewhat placid smile that she'd had before to barely contained fury. "LET ME GO!" she shouted, struggling and trying to break the bindings by physical might.

Chrono frowned and pointed S2U at Naruto. "Struggle Bind," he added, as his own dark blue bindings wrapped around Naruto.

"Photon Lancer," Fate muttered, aiming directly at exactly one place, the hand that Naruto was holding her device spear in. Her attack struck true, and the paralytic effect of the electric nature of her attack forced Naruto to open her hand as it seized in shock, causing her to drop her spear. It was quickly caught by one of the other mages, and Fate let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she saw more bindings wrap around Naruto.

She'd started to notice slight cracks appearing on Yuuno's bindings, which was quite a bit terrifying.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I WON'T LET YOU- I WON'T!"

"Calm down, ma'am," one of the officers said, "you are under a-"

"Stop," Chrono ordered. "Naruto. Can you recognize me?"

Naruto grit her teeth. "You won't... you won't get away with this... Never... never again!" Naruto shouted, growling out the last few lines.

"Naruto, can you recognize me?" Fate asked, floating forwards a bit, trying to look Naruto in the face.

Naruto closed her eyes. "Nononononono! I refuse! I refuse this!"

"She's unhinged," one of the others commented. "She's hysteric, and she wasn't like this before. I've seen this kind, she's probably reacting poorly to the bindings."

"... Binding trauma? There are many way bindings could be misused," someone mused.

Chrono frowned. "It could be," he muttered. "If so, then-"

"Release me release me now release me or I'll kill you all!" Naruto ranted, shaking her head uncontrollably.

"We can't release her, she's violent, we'll have to knock her-"

"Consume my bindings with your incandescent light," Naruto muttered, seemingly calming down.

"She's... preparing a big spell! Disperse!" Chrono ordered, knowing full well that a verbal command wouldn't be enough, he also sent the message telepathically and retreated himself.

"Release me with your pure blaze!"

There was all of a moment for everyone to scramble to fly out of the way. Hearing the words of her chant, most assumed a fire spell was incoming, and as such, took off away and further upwards to the sky. The forests around Konoha catching fire would be a disaster.

"Roar, AZURE FLAME!"

Naruto's body exploded in a blue blaze.

"Answer my call, NachtWal! Return to your Mistress' hand!" Naruto shouted, her hand open and pointed towards the mage who held her spear. After a moment's struggle, the spear let out an electric shock and managed to free itself. The blue flames around Naruto dissipated after the spear reached her hand. She twirled it around a few times.

"It seems all we achieved was making her angry," one of the mages muttered.

"... Shit."

Chrono and Fate had a quick mental conversation.

They needed even more back up.

Fate wondered where exactly it was...

* * *

Nanoha stumbled. "Is that-"

"Yes, it's what we're looking for. A fragment," the avatar stated.

There was a glowing sphere just sitting there, in the middle of the road. They'd followed an apparently winding and twisting labyrinthine path, but when Nanoha looked back, she could see a straight road all the way back to the Hokage Tower, which stood proudly above the city. "Uh, didn't we-"

"You're expecting this world to make sense," the avatar stated, a warm smile on her face. "Mistress rarely does," she added.

Nanoha nodded. "I... actually kinda expected to see some people, or representations. If this is how she saw the world-"

"This isn't how she saw the world. Not even back then," the avatar said, shaking her head. "But... in that regard, you're about to experience it firsthand. I can't proceed further. Mistress would detect me instantly, and kick me out. She doesn't allow me here. She doesn't allow anyone here."

"Then... why would she allow me?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"That... you'll see later," the avatar explained, nodding at her. "Now, touch it," she said, gesturing to the glowing white sphere floating at roughly chest level. "You should feel vertigo when you do. Don't try to fly, you're not actually falling."

Nanoha nodded and walked forward. Her face scrunched up for a moment and then she felt a shiver run down her spine. "That was weird," she mused, looking behind her. "What is-"

But the avatar wasn't there. In fact, the entire world behind her wasn't there. It was different... the Hokage Tower wasn't visible. Instead, the landscape was painted the same pastel colors, all in crayon...

Blinking, Nanoha shook her head and turned around. Don't get distracted now, she mused, or you'll never make it. Steeling herself, Nanoha walked towards the sphere and put her hand atop it. For a moment, the ground disappeared below her and Nanoha could feel herself reach terminal velocity instantly, and as she prepared herself to the harsh power of g-force, she remembered the avatar's warning and decided to let the sensation pass instead... and it did.

* * *

Nanoha blinked.

The world around her was still the same, but...

"Ne, ne, Onii-chan!"

That definitely was different. There was a sound other than her own breathing and her and her companion's steps. In fact, she could hear the murmur of people all around her, and as she looked around, she saw shadowy figures... pale blue in color, mostly, though there were occasional ones in different colors. Some were tinted red, and a few were yellow, but almost all were blue.

Taking better stock of her surroundings, Nanoha had to make an educated guess that the area she was in was supposed to represent an alley of some sort, but a well populated and cleaned one, which saw frequent transit, and there were a stand or two.

The sight of the stand painted on the wall and yet somehow able to have the shades interact with it was... disconcerting. She saw a few buying what looked like a rough approximation of a bundle of apples, and then take them in a two dimensional bag.

Were she to be crude, Nanoha would call it freaky and creepy.

However, a single voice that rose above all the others caught her attention. "Onii-chan! Onii-chan!"

It wasn't her own voice, but- but- it was coming from her? She'd never been this high pitched, had she? Come to think of it, it was rather similar to-

"Naruto! What have I told you about-"

"Onii-chan's lectures are boring," Nanoha replied, shaking her head. She looked up and smiled so widely it almost made her face hurt.

The man she saw wasn't in silhouette, like all the others, though he might as well be, since he was wearing a stage hand's outfit with a crudely drawn dog mask on his face.

"This is serious, Naruto. You can't just keep walking off on your own! You'll scare us to death," Onii-chan said, shaking his head. His figure had a slight tinge of red to it, and it was annoying. His was usually such a pretty white, too. "What would Barahime-san think if you were to hurt yourself-"

"She wouldn't care," Nanoha said, pouting. "She doesn't care about me."

"That's a lie, Naruto," Onii-chan replied, firmly. "You know that just because she's had a bad day or two it doesn't mean-"

"I heard her talking with Otou-san... They think I'm a burden. They want to get rid of me."

"That's not true," Onii-chan said, kneeling down in front of her. "I'm sure they were just tense and-"

* * *

"Are you alright?"

Nanoha's eyes opened. "What... what just-"

"You lived her life for a moment. A fragment of a memory," the avatar explained. "There's at least one more like this one in this area. Possibly two, I'm not certain," the avatar said, frowning. "The 'key' we need from here... is in one of them. A specific memory that Naruto has repressed, that she has 'forgotten'..."

Nanoha nodded. "It was..."

"A bit intense, I know," the avatar said. "I doubt it'll become any easier on you..."

"But I can't stop after just this. I just need a moment to catch my breath. It's... different. I felt- everything. I could feel everything, even what she didn't even admit to herself..."

"I'm sorry that I must put you through this, but-" the avatar began, her tone apologetic.

"Don't. I presumed I could understand Fate-chan, but I really couldn't. I've... never felt hate like she did. I've never been hurt like she was. I can't understand Naruto, either. I don't know her pain. Not really... but this way... this way I can make a difference. I can truly understand her... I can truly..."

"Save her," the Avatar supplied. "You are the only one who can."

Nanoha nodded. "Let's move on."

The avatar nodded, a determined, but warm and kind, smile on her face as the two once more set out, searching through the long hallway.

* * *

"Of all the times she could choose to go on a date, Arf had to choose now," Fate muttered to herself as she dodged a pink beam that Naruto had fired from one of her fingertips, barely managing to do so even with the speed boost from the Sonic Form. That attack was truly too fast, and when he'd taken a very weakened glancing hit, Yuuno had pretty much warned them that it would most likely knock either her or Chrono out in one shot if it got them clean.

Best not to test their Barrier Jackets against it.

"Almost all of her attacks cannot be used consecutively," Chrono informed everyone through a telepathic link. "There is a brief period of vulnerability immediately after she uses that technique that helps her escape our attacks. Capitalize on it, I will force her to use it."

Fortunately, telepathy was much faster than actual speech, and Chrono was able to give his instructions before Naruto had grown bored enough to resume the offensive.

Unfortunately, it was only barely just enough time to do so, since Naruto sighed in what was clear annoyance before resuming her attack. "Gungnir," she shouted, pointing her spear forward and leaning back.

Fate instantly moved downwards and towards Naruto, causing her to launch the spear harmlessly towards the forest below them. Fortunately, it hadn't caught fire yet, but the fact that Naruto answered any and all binding attempts with flame was causing them quite a bit of discomfort. An inability to pull her away from the area caused them to worry quite a bit. The reduction in their numbers, even more so.

At this point, only six people remained in the fight. Fate managed to avoid anything thrown at her, Chrono could predict her movements and Yuuno had the ability to block her attacks due to his strong barriers. The mages who'd come with them were not used to this level of combat, and were clearly outmatched. They were trained and worked well in most situations, but...

As Chrono forced Naruto to block a barrage of Stinger Blades and the others attacked...

Fate noticed that Naruto didn't even bother to block the others' attacks. She stumbled a bit, but was otherwise unaffected. Their combined tiredness with an already inferior level of raw power...

Chrono seemed to have noticed as well. "Pajero, Clio, Pescarolo- retreat," he ordered, harshly.

"Hm? Not gonna wait for me to knock out the nobodies? I was having so much fun making them see just how outclassed they truly are," Naruto said, smiling widely. "But that's okay. You can all leave. I only want Fate-chan," Naruto said, turning towards her fellow blonde.

"Uhm, Naruto-chan, can we move this fight elsewhere?" Fate asked, flying up to her. "If you keep using fire spells here, you might cause a forest fire."

Naruto blinked and tilted her head. A few moments of silence followed.

"And that would be terrible," Yuuno supplied, know

"... Really?" Naruto asked, tilting her head the other way. "There's way too many trees anyway," she said, frowning.

"If we take this fight to a wide open and barren area, we can all go all out without fear of hurting anyone by accident," Chrono explained.

"That would be a lot more interesting, wouldn't it?" Yuuno asked, "it'd be a much more exciting fight if we didn't have to hold back."

"Maybe," Naruto agreed, nodding. "Fine. Then we'll take this fight somewhere else. I think I know just the place!" she said with a smile.

* * *

After wandering for what had felt like an eternity, Nanoha and the Avatar of the book had finally managed to find yet another memory. It was strange to think that despite all of the twists and turns they'd taken... Whenever Nanoha looked back, she could still see a direct and uninterrupted path to the Hokage Tower.

It was oddly comforting to know she literally could not get lost in this place, since she had a guide that led her forward and the path backwards was a simple straight line.

"This memory will probably be a bit heavier than the last one," the avatar warned. "Be careful, and remember - they might feel real, but they're NOT your feelings."

Nanoha nodded, her hand reaching forward and grasping the glowing memory...

* * *

"NO! I can't take it anymore, Takeru! I can't stand it anymore! Everywhere I go it's always the same, I'm just some- some- I don't know, vermin or something! It's like I'm below them and I can't stand it anymore!"

"N-Nodoka, keep your voice-"

"She's gone anyway, Takeru! And good riddance! I can't stand this anymore... I can't do this anymore! I can't go to the market without being looked at like I'm some sort of monster anymore, and I haven't been able to get a job for years! I'm done! I'm through with this!"

Nanoha blinked. What could they-

Of course.

Of course it had to be.

She took a few steps forward, closer to the closed door that lead to her parents' bedroom, and placed her ear against the thin wood.

"I know, Nodoka, I know it hurts, but we accepted-"

"He said they would let up. He said it would change soon... but it hasn't... it's been the same and I can't stand it anymore... I'm done. I'm pulling out, and-"

"You can't!"

Naruto blinked.

"Are you going to leave me alone!? We were in this together, we-"

"You can come with me. You can just come with me. It's that simple."

"What are you, crazy or something!?"

"No. I was crazy when I thought this was a good idea. I'm sane now. That girl has been nothing but trouble, Takeru! We have to take care of her, feed her and share our house with her! And what do we get for it? Everyone hates us now! We don't have any more friends! But we can change that... let's just... let's just leave."

"We're getting paid for this, Nodoka! Way more than I made at the print! We can't just pull out! Don't leave me... not like this!"

"You don't want me to leave you... You've got to choose! Me or the money!"

"We've got-"

"Just forget about it! Forget about that and forget about that goddamn girl!"

"But- The money-"

Nanoha blinked.

They didn't care.

Nobody cared.

Of course they didn't.

What was she, to them? What was she to the people who'd clothed, fed and taken care of her?

Her fist clenched and she grit her teeth, before running into her room and tossing herself at the bed.

Well... if they didn't care...

Then neither would she. If they didn't think she was worth... if they thought...

Yeah.

As her tears left her eyes and wet her pillow, she was decided.

"Are you alright?"

Nanoha lifted her head from her pillow. A masked man with really long hair... Yeah. He was one of them. "Y-yes," she managed.

"Hm... No. No you're not. Come on. I doubt those two are going to be making dinner for you tonight."

"... Forget about them," Nanoha said, though it stung her fiercely to say those words.

"You're right, we should," the masked man said, then he held his hand out, holding a handkerchief for her.

* * *

Yuuno Scrya was actually the one least pressed by the consistent barrages of spells that Naruto threw around.

For all of her power and abiltiy, she was not very smart, and she clearly lacked experience still. Those two combined together to give Yuuno an edge against her, as he could predict her movements, even if he couldn't predict her spells due to the sheer amount she knew. He knew, however, that she was mostly using ranged attacks that were powerful and theoretically the best choice in any given situation.

Basically, Naruto was fighting closer to a machine than to a human being, having a critical lack of instant adaptation to her surroundings.

This was why despite the fact that the fight had been in the TSAB's favor even after their backup had mostly retreated. The three of them were simply better than Naruto.

Unfortunately, Naruto was just too strong and had too many spells for them to be able to do more than use their superiority to survive her attack with minimal damage and fatigue.

That was, at least, until for some reason Naruto's demeanor seemed to change entirely. Whereas before she'd been mostly playful in her barrages and assaults, it seemed that she had either grown bored or had, for one reason or another, become angry.

"... Nobody cares anyway," Naruto muttered. "So why should I?" she asked, seemingly at random.

Yuuno's eyes widened when Naruto dismissed both her spear and shield and grasped the Tome of the Night Sky with both hands, holding it close to her for a few seconds.

"I won't... I won't let you..." she muttered, before opening the book. It began to glow. "Unavoidable and relentless, unleash hell through your divine light! Divine Shooter, Genocide Shift!"

Yuuno's eyes widened as he saw dozens of pink spheres begin to form behind Naruto. He knew Naruto had access to the spells of all those whose cores had been absorbed by the Tome, which included Nanoha and Fate, but nothing he'd read suggested that the Tome could modify them, much less to this extent. And more importantly... He knew this spell and its parameters. It was the first spell Nanoha had designed for the sole purpose of attacking. It was relatively weak on its own.

But even six were already painful and difficult to defend against.

Six dozen, and that was seven... eight...

A hundred of them.

Yuuno was already running the calculations through his mind to form the thickest barrier he could. His mind had already called out to Chrono and Fate, to pile up with him.

There was no dodging as Naruto unleashed Bullet Hell.

Yuuno's barrier crashed and behind it so did Fate and Chrono's, causing them to take several shots each. Considering they'd blocked 92 of them, that wasn't all that bad. It seemed Naruto had sacrificed a bit of their power for the amount she'd cast, but...

The problem would be...

"Divine Buster!"

That Naruto had taken the time they'd been blocking to charge up a more powerful spell.

An orange barrier snapped into existence and shuddered a bit as it weathered the attack. It cracked, but it held until the pink beam dissipated fully.

"Arf!" Fate shouted. "You're here!"

"Yeah, I had to rush a bit."

Yuuno blushed. Arf's clothes were always quite a bit provocative, and Yuuno was already loathing puberty. He shook his head and concentrated. "Weren't you with-"

"Yes. They went to find out what happened. Obviously, they won't help us against her, but they said they know this isn't her, so they're trying to see if they can figure out what happened and try to fix it," Arf explained. Fortunately, the mental conversation could happen even as they all kept an eye on Naruto, who seemed to be contemplating something.

"Then we should sta-"

"DODGE!" Chrono shouted.

All four of them instantly scrambled and moved away in four different directions.

Four pink beams had passed where they'd been. Yuuno frowned as he saw that all four seemed to be homing in on him. They were apparently modified Divine Buster casts, shot much quicker and in multitude but... far weaker... He brought up a barrier and watched it deflect all four blasts around him, having them pass harmlessly. They crashed against the ocean below him and dissipated.

They were a distraction, however, and he noticed the thin pink beam that came immediately behind them.

Unfortunately, it was moving way too fast for him to dodge it. Yuuno reinforced the barrier and watched as it tore a hole through it, hitting his abdomen.

He would've analyzed the spell a bit more at that point to judge how powerful it was... but his mind was a bit busier, since his world exploded and became pain at that moment.

* * *

The avatar of the book tapped Nanoha's shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Y-Yes," Nanoha said, shaking her head to clear it. "It's... a bit hard to dissociate the memory from me. Huh. I didn't know I knew that word," she said, taking a deep breath. "It's a little difficult not thinking of that as my own memory."

"It's a very intense experience. You're not seeing the memory, you're living it," the silver haired woman explained. "But... one of the chains has broken. There's only three more to go. Do you want to take a break?"

Nanoha shook her head once more, this time to express a negative as she stood up fully, helped by the avatar of the Tome. "No. I'll be okay. I just hope everyone outside is..."

The avatar nodded. "As do I."

Still a bit wobbly on her feet, Nanoha began to walk back. "We should go back to the tower and go from there. It's the center, right?"

"That's correct. We can't go anywhere else from here," the avatar said, nodding.

It was a surprisingly short trip, actually.

Nanoha traced with her fingers the mark on the Hokage Tower's gate, where the chain had been. "Soon, Naruto-chan... I promise I will save you."

* * *

Shit, this is going on WAY longer than it really should have, but the last time I skipped the fight scenes people got angry over it.

Incidentally, Naruto is now engaging in Bullet Hell, using weaker but more numerous attacks.

She's also proven that having Kawarimi when you have an AI who can do it for you makes for a very, VERY dififcult opponent.

Incidentally, I actually added a 'cooldown time' for Kawarimi simply because it makes no sense for her not to know it given how many ninja the Wolkenritter drained, and thus it wouldn't make sense for her not to use it, and at the same time, it makes no sense why she would ever be pushed back if NachtWal can constantly pull her out of danger. Also, it makes no sense why Kakashi, who's shown the ability to use Kawarimi in an instant, wouldn't be using it constantly otherwise.

I mean, the real answer is actually incompetence. The ninja don't use their overpowered abilities in overpowered ways not because they're impossible to use that way, but just because they're too dumb to. But since I'm trying to make them more competent than in canon, I have to nerf their abilities accordingly.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 24: Chained Up

* * *

"I will defeat you!" Naruto shouted, as half a dozen chains erupted from the tome in her left hand, all six of them heading towards Fate. "You can't escape forever. I won't let you get away. I won't let you leave!"

Fate didn't have time to prepare a retort, busy as she was dodging through the seemingly sentient chains' whipping motions. One had clipped her, and she'd instantly felt the drain on energy. Not her magical reserves, at least not more than any given punch at her super fragile barrier jacket would... no, the touch of the chain sapped a bit of her physical energy, causing her to feel a little more fatigued.

Bardiche quickly completed a short, quick and dirty analysis of the chains, and came to the conclusion that they had the effect of sapping the equivalent of magic for this world, draining from their equivalent for a Linker Core. Apparently, she was lucky she didn't have the same system as this world's people, otherwise, her magic reserves would've taken a dive after just a little touch.

"Don't let them touch you," Fate warned through the telepathic connection she had with her current teammates. She heard their mental confirmation and dove downwards. She almost grazed the ocean, and split a path behind herself from the sheer speed she was traveling at. Behind her, the chains whipped about, trying to wrap around her, while she kept just ahead.

She felt them stop for an instant.

"They can't drain pure magic," Yuuno sent through telepathy, and Fate nodded.

Bindings would stop the chains. Unfortunately, six seemed far from Naruto's conjuration limit, as she called upon six more and the chase resumed.

"Fate, up," Chrono commanded, and Fate did as he said. She increased her speed and just barely managed to clear the spell she felt forming.

The chains all took a quick, sharp turn upwards and seemed to gather together into a single torrent. They were met with a blue sphere and seemingly just froze on the spot.

"Hm. I didn't want to have to use this," Chrono said, as he twirled a new weapon a little, getting used to its shape and weight. "We shall see how Admiral Graham's ultimate weapon handles..." he muttered.

"I don't care how many new toys you bring out," Naruto said. "If you keep interrupting me, I'll destroy you before I get to Fate-chan," she added, glaring at Chrono.

The chains all dispelled, and Naruto quickly turned around, raising her free hand to catch Arf's fist as the familiar tried to catch her by surprise. "Tche, how-"

Naruto, however, simply let Arf's momentum carry her forward, her hand grabbing onto the familiar's wrist and pulling her along. The very speed Arf had attacked with caused her to be thrown away from Naruto, who held a hand forward. Wind seemed to gather in front of Naruto's palm. "Vacuum Palm," she shouted, and what seemed like a tightly compressed sphere of air launched at Arf.

Arf seemed to regain control of her flight and brought both hands forward, raising a barrier that Naruto's wind sphere crashed against harmlessly.

Three glowing green chains converged on Naruto's position, however, she once more disappeared, consumed in a poof of smoke, causing Yuuno to bind a perfectly carved log instead. The moment Naruto reappeared a small distance away, however, she was set upon by Fate, who was once more wielding Bardiche as a massive broadsword.

"Flash Move," the book intoned, forcefully pulling Naruto out of the way of Fate's attack.

"Now. Frozen World," Chrono muttered, waving his new staff with a clear grunt of effort.

A blue ring appeared around Naruto, who seemed a bit confused as it was far lighter in color than Chrono's magic had been up to that point. It also expanded outwards, instead of compressing. Her eyes widened, however, as she felt a sudden drop in temperature.

The air around Naruto began to become cold and heavy all of a sudden.

When she blinked, she noticed she had a lot of trouble moving, and that she could barely feel her body as it began to shut down on her from lack of heat.

"Roar, Azure Flame!"

* * *

"We're going North East now," the Avatar of the book said. "It will be just as disorienting as before, so-"

Nanoha nodded. "I understand," she said. "Monochrome, huh..? It's... actually kinda pretty," she admitted.

And it really was. There was something about the majesty of a village as seen in an old timey picture like that. It was something that, when seen in physical form or even in a picture with color, just didn't exist. It was strange, to think that the lack of color could make something look better... but after witnessing a world made out of pastel colored crayon, Nanoha was glad for a rest.

Once more, the path was winding and twisting, and Nanoha had to keep her focus tightly on her guide, lest she get distracted. Once or twice, she thought she saw something moving at the edge of her vision. She was sure she'd heard the rustle of cloth, or something similar. She couldn't quite make out what it was, though.

The whisper of the wind brought Nanoha's mind to focus once more. "Wind..?" she muttered.

There wasn't wind within this world... She looked at her guide, who simply shook her head, and they continued forward. The world didn't have any adherence to its own rules, and it made... well, perfect sense, if you thought about it. After all, it was a world created and maintained by a fractured mind. Why should it ever make a lick of sense?

For a moment, Nanoha thought back to when she read about Alice in Wonderland. Imagery of the book was fairly popular in a lot of media, after all. However, she discarded the thought immediately, deciding that the comparison was a bit farfetched. After all, she hadn't fallen through no rabbit hole. She shook her head. Double negatives were confusing. She wondered why she'd even tried to do it. Double negatives were so annoying that way, you could make one by complete accident and then you'd look like an idiot in front of everyone, like that one time Suzuka accidentally wound up making everyone think she didn't wear panties under her gym class shorts.

Then Nanoha blinked.

"Uh... I think I noticed something strange is going on with me," Nanoha said, shaking her head. "I keep going off on tangents and-"

"Naruto's psyche is affecting you more than you'd think," the avatar explained, turning to look at her. "It makes sense. You are having pretty intimate contact with Naruto's mind. Don't worry. It will pass."

Nanoha nodded. "Thank you," she said, trying not to go off on yet another tangent. Instead, she began to count off the amount of steps they were taking. Anything that could keep her focus on, so she didn't have to go off on tangents. It was dangerous to get distracted within this place, as it'd already been established before. Nanoha could potentially get lost forever, and wander around, not knowing where she is or where she's going, even though the world she was in was so simple and yet so complex at the same time. Really, the city was quite strange and-

Nanoha felt the slap upside the head and then snapped out of it. "We'll need to keep conversation flowing," the avatar said. "We can't go back now, we'd lose too much time coming back, and I'm unsure the fragment would remain in the same place. So I will have to ask you to endure and we will take a break after we've removed the next chain. Until then, please try to hold it together."

Nanoha nodded. "I'm sorry," she said, "it's just- affecting me more subtly than I thought it would."

"For someone who dresses in orange, mistress can be surprisingly subtle," the avatar said. "It's very easy to be subtle when nobody expects you to be."

Nanoha nodded. "When it's completely unexpected, it's easier to sneak something by someone," she agreed.

"And speaking about sneaking places," the Avatar said, gesturing forwards.

Nanoha nodded and looked at what they were looking for. A shiny ball holding yet another memory. She took a deep breath and, with a determined expression, placed her hand on the glowing sphere.

* * *

Nanoha stomped her foot on the ground, puffing up her cheeks. "Stop that!" she shouted.

The masked man before her looked down at her. He looked down on her. "You wouldn't... can't understand."

"Try me," she said, frowning and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry. But you just can't. And... it's better that way. It's better if you don't," he said.

"We found him!" someone shouted.

Nanoha's eyes widened. How had they- it was impossible! She turned around and saw three figures, nondescript dark silhouettes, who had appeared out of nowhere. "Weasel-nii, what are-"

She felt, more than saw, him move. She felt, more than saw, his every move as he leapt towards her. But for some reason, she couldn't quite feel his fingers around her throat, even as she looked down. She couldn't quite feel the cold iron of the kunai that was now pressed against the soft skin of her throat.

"Not a centimeter forward," Weasel said.

Nanoha felt that even gulping would cause the cut that would end her life. She was paralyzed. She hadn't expected- couldn't expect- why- it was... it didn't make sense! It didn't make any sense! He couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't- but he did.

He did!

How!?

How could... It didn't make any sense. Even now, she felt nothing.

No anger. No hatred. No agression.

Nothing! He was as blank a gray slate as ever. "Put her down, Weasel. You're not surviving this, and you know that if you kill her, the third himself will come for you," one spoke.

A bluff. Baseless. He was afraid. Terrified even. Afraid for himself. Afraid of losing his neck if she lost hers.

"You're good, but you're not that good," another one said.

Cocky, brash, arrogant. Didn't care at all. New- his mask was still well polished and had no marks. His clothes had no lasting bloodstains.

A third one stood to the side. Calm. Collected. Didn't care, for different reasons. Disdain, disdain and contempt.

Aggression focused.

Her every sense became more acute. Nanoha felt herself choke on her own spit as she felt suffocated under the pressure that didn't exist. An illusion. It didn't exist.

Nothing was real.

The world around her crashed.

"Put her down before you do something you will regret," another calm, collected voice spoke.

Fear.

Overwhelming, primal.

Fear consumed everything.

And Nanoha shuddered in place. Behind her, before her, at her sides, there was so much.

Her hands- they were unbound, but she couldn't feel them. Everything was numb, she couldn't-

Her neck. Her neck hurt so much, it hurt so much and she needed to... She didn't. She needed, she needed to get it off! Her hands gripped at it uselessly, trying, in vain, to get at the problem. She clawed at her throat, but she couldn't get through. Something was blocking it, and she needed to remove it, but she couldn't get to it, no matter how hard she tried!

Her vision was swimming, filled with black spots, and she let out a soundless scream.

* * *

Fate watched as the barrage of bullets from multiple directions at once forced Naruto to put in a wide area barrier, and when she did put up such a barrier, she cut straight through it with Bardiche's energy blade, though she was forced to divert her course from a continued assault when Naruto merely twisted around her blade and let her go past without resistance. It was a given that a series of chains would burst from the book.

Naruto had hardly given up on claiming Fate.

However, just as the chains were about to wrap around Fate, and she was counting the very miliseconds before Bardiche automatically took her out of the way with a burst of speed...

It seemed that Naruto choked on something, as she spasmed and began to cough, holding her neck with her free hand. The chains spasmed a few times, almost like vipers thrashing, before crashing like so much glass and disappearing.

Fate's eyes widened when she saw the wings behind Naruto's back flicker for a moment before crashing like glass, as well.

Panic set in as she forgot the fact she'd just been fighting and instead pushed everything, pushed her Sonic Form to its limit, and rushed towards her fellow blonde, who had begun her descent towards the ground, now clutching at her neck with both hands, as if something obstructed her breathing.

She ignored Chrono's mental shouts about it being a trap, and pointedly ignored the presences of Yuuno and Arf rushing to her as well.

It took all of her training to make Fate remember, in her frantic rush, how physics worked enough that she didn't kill Naruto through whiplash, angling herself properly so she could catch up to Naruto and then begin slowing down gradually once she did. As soon as she approached Naruto's falling velocity, Fate grabbed her and began slowing their descent.

It was a boon that Chrono had taken the fight so high up prior, as it'd given Fate enough time to comfortably stop Naruto's fall.

However...

The problems hadn't ended then. Naruto was still choking, and Fate just couldn't figure out what... until she looked at the expression on Naruto's face. Pure, unaduterated terror. Naruto was...

"She's in shock," Yuuno said. "Something must've-"

"She's got trauma related to being bound," Chrono said, "it's likely that she has others, as well, and that we accidentally triggered something. We don't have time for-"

Fate nodded.

* * *

Nanoha gingerly her cheek. "Y-You... Slapped me?" she asked, looking at the crimson red eyes of the avatar of the book, strangely full of worry.

For a moment, there were two overlapping images. Both with silver hair. There was one matchingly red eye, but... she shook her head, and the image faded.

* * *

Naruto rubbed her cheek.

"Onii-sama..." she muttered, blinking. "Onii-sama..." she repeated, shaking her head.

She blinked a couple of times and tilted her head. She didn't remember his arms being this short. Or thin. And he certainly didn't have totally fabulous blond hair. And she never did get to know what his face looked like, but this was definitely a face too girly to belong to him.

"Naruto-chan, are you-"

"Fate-chan," Naruto said, smiling widely. "It's so nice of you to drop by!"

"Are- Are you alright?" Fate asked, frowning.

"Of course I am, silly!" Naruto said. "But you got distracted! So, in you go! Absorb!"

"Sammlung," the book intoned.

Fate only had a moment to react.

Distracted as she was, it wasn't enough.

* * *

"You went into shock at the same time as Mistress did in her memory. You weren't coming out of it," the avatar said.

"That was... what... what was that?" Nanoha asked, frowning. "It felt like-"

"Calm. None of that was yours. None of that was hers, either," the avatar explained. "But... there's been a change of plans."

"Huh?" Nanoha tilted her head. Vaguely, she noticed the Avatar's hair sway slightly to her left. Just to test it, she tilted her head the other way around, and indeed, her hair swung in the other direction. "That's... strange."

"This is a world not of sight and sound but of mind," the Avatar stated, simply, noticing what Nanoha had. "This... this is just an inkling of the level of trust my mistress has placed upon you... do you understand it?"

"But... how... why?" Nanoha asked, frowning. "Naruto-chan is my friend, but she hasn't known me for that long, and I-"

"You'll learn," the Avatar said. "For now... Let us get back to the center..."

* * *

Fate blinked and then caught herself, only to realize... she wasn't falling, blinking a few times, she looked around. "FATE-CHAN!"

And then she was tackled to the ground by a brown and white missile.

"N-Nanoha!" Fate nearly shouted. "You're alright!"

"Of course I am, silly! Naruto-chan wouldn't hurt me," Nanoha said. "But she's a bit loopy right now, so she's not acting like herself," she added, pulling back. "Wait, if you're here, then that means-"

"I was fighting Naruto," Fate said, frowning a bit. "She's... she's immensely powerful, Nanoha. She's been throwing around immensely powerful spells, and it doesn't seem to be affecting her in the least. We were conserving our magic, but-"

"Conserving your power is of no use. You can't outlast her," a new voice said. Fate instantly turned her head to face the interloper, her eyes narrowing as she met eyes of the same crimson as Naruto's had become.

"'s okay, Fate-chan, she's a friend," Nanoha said, standing up and offering Fate her hand.

Nodding, Fate gladly took it. "I'll trust you on that," she said, evenly. "You're a better judge of character than I am anyway."

Smiling, Nanoha turned. "This is the Avatar of the Tome of the Night Sky," she said, "she's Naruto-chan's closest confidante!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Fate-ch, ah, my apologies over my overly familiar form of address. I am more deeply linked to mistress than I should be, and it's a bit difficult to divorce her mannerisms from mine," she said.

"I'm not surprised you know me," Fate said. "You have access to Naruto's memories, as well?"

"All of them, including those she herself doesn't," the Avatar said.

"Anyway... Fate-chan, how did you get here?" Nanoha asked.

"I was fighting Naruto, when all of a sudden she... she just started choking, out of nowhere. She went into shock for some reason," Fate said, "and I uh... I used sudden physical pain to jar her out of it."

"You slapped her," the Avatar said. "how... incredibly coincidental," she mused out loud.

"It was an one in a million synchronicity chance," Nanoha said, nodding. "Well... I do have a lot to explain."

"We have time. Mistress is, if nothing else, fond of theatrics and dramatics. Don't dally, however- that time is not infinite, and is limited to how much your friends can keep Mistress' temper from flaring..."

* * *

"You did something to her," Signum stated, Laevateinn's tip pressed against Orochimaru's throat. The snarl on her face marred otherwise beautiful features, and her grip on her weapon was so tight that her knuckles were bone-white. Around her, the half burned, half demolished husk of a former underground laboratory facility lay in ruins. It had obviously been recently turned inside out, so to speak.

"I did, yes," Orochimaru replied, his face, brutalized though it was, still twisting into a smirk. "Or rather, I undid something that was done to her."

"Whatever you did to her destroyed whatever was left of her mental balance," Signum explained, short and to the point. "I want to know what it was."

Orochimaru laughed. "Don't you?" he asked. "Ah, but to be quite honest, I did many things to Naruto... she, after all, wanted what I could give her, and I am not one to deny promising young people."

Signum's grip tightened even further, if such was even possible. "I understand that you are a remorseless monster who feels no guilt nor shame at his own actions... but I did not believe you stupid enough to even imply that you have touched my mistress in my presence."

"I did more than touch her. Such an useless bodyguard, you are. You can't even keep tabs on your mistress, and you allow her to go unsupervised to where bad men might find her. A young lass, all alone in the woods- it's almost a cautionary tale, isn't it?" he asked.

Signum pressed Laevateinn against his throat. Blood began to flow from the shallow cut she'd made with the very tip. "I will kill you as many times as it is necessary to ensure you never rise again."

Orochimaru laughed. "You lack the power. The sole reason I am not holding you at bladepoint is the damage your very mistress did to me. You are not even close to being in her league. What an useless bodyguard you are, so much weaker, incompetent... You are a failure, and unworthy of the title you've been graced with," Orochimaru said. "Make no mistake. You do not hold the upper hand here. I do. I know the information that you want. My death here would only be a minor setback. I can come back as many times as I have a desire to. I can abandon this vessel if I must. I can escape whenever I wish."

"You lie," Signum said. "If you could, you would have."

"Would I?" Orochimaru asked, smirking. "Perhaps I am interested in something you can offer me in return for what I can offer you."

"Your life is the only thing I am bargaining with," Signum said. "Speak, and I may spare it."

"Didn't I tell you already? My life is not at risk here-"

"You misunderstand," Signum said. "I will not rest at destroying your body. I will search for your soul, and burn it until nothing remains. If there is any other vessel for you, I will destroy it. If necessary, I will personally hunt down and kill every last man, woman and child in this planet and burn their bodies until not even ashes remain. If you do not give me what I want, Orochimaru, I will destroy you, whether it takes me a moment or an eternity, I will find you, and when I do, you will be obliterated."

Orochimaru, for a moment, seemed to be rendered speechless. "You wouldn't-"

However, Signum's glance was final.

Orochimaru, for his part, exploded into roaring laughter. "Your spirit is fiery, as is your blade. You have impressed me, woman, with your devotion. Not many can boast to have impressed me," he said, "very well, then. I shall speak the truth you so desire."

"Every hurt you have brought upon my mistress will be avenged," Signum promised, solemnly.

"Hurt her?" Orochimaru asked, his smirk pronouncing. "Whyever would I want to hurt her? No, far be it from me to wish harm upon her."

"You are a monster, who cares for nothing but yourself. Can you truthfuly deny you would destroy her if it would benefit you?" Signum asked, her anger rising.

"Yes, I can," Orochimaru said, his tone greatly amused. "I have my reasons," he said. "Amongst which is the fact that it simply does not benefit me to hurt her in any way. I am not stupid. I know the kinds of trouble I'd invite upon myself, and there are... more personal reasons. Nevertheless, what I said before is the truth. What I did was to undo something that was done to her."

"What?" Signum asked, her tone as sharp as her blade.

"It's simple, and yet such a majestic work of art. I guess that comes standard with my own sealwork. What I did, was simply to destroy my teammate's work, layered on top of mine, and then remove my seal. I removed the seal that kept Naruto from accessing the full extent of the powers that she inherited from the nine tailed fox, and the memories she associated with it."

"You know more," Signum accused.

"Of course I do. I know Naruto very, very well. Stay a while and listen. You might just learn something."

* * *

"Signum sent us ahead. We've captured the Snake," Zafira said, eyes closed. "I have questions, regarding things he told her."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's hands met, and his fingers intertwined as he peered over them at Zafira, who sat stiffly on the other side of his desk. "All secrets I kept were kept for her sake."

"You are genuine," Zafira said, his calm being somewhat at odds with the situation.

Shamal, however, didn't seem particularly calm. "Don't do it anymore. I don't think she likes that."

"That's true. Very well, then. The time for secrecy and subterfuge has long since passed. My apologies, old men's old habits are hard to kick," the man said.

"We have many questions, and you have all the answers," Shamal said.

"But we don't have time," Zafira said. "You'll have to be succinct."

* * *

Once Fate was up to speed, Nanoha looked at their next destination. She guessed it was North West, if the counter clockwise pattern held up.

She was right.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to come with you..?" Fate muttered. "This is Naruto's mind and I-"

"Are welcome here," the avatar cut, looking solemn as she did. "And you are safest with me. As long as I can occlude Mistress' perception of her own mind by masking your presence with mine, she will not think anything is out of the ordinary."

Fate frowned. "I still... this is very intimate and I-"

"It's a bit uncomfortable," Nanoha said, "but... I'm really glad you're here, Fate-chan. I'm not sure I could keep going through this alone- no offense," she said, turning to the avatar.

"None taken," she said. "Nevertheless... we must hurry. We've spent too long here... If Fate is here, then it is entirely likely Mistress will stop playing around very soon and begin following the will of the fragment currently in control."

"... Just as a curiosity," Nanoha began, "I understand that only a minimal part of Naruto's mind is in control right now, and that she's being driven mostly by her fear and insecurities, but... what is her end objective?"

Fate nodded. "I thought that once she absorbed me, she wouldn't have much else to do. That was her only stated objective," she explained.

"At this point, Mistress' sole desire is the destruction of anything and everything that she believes is a threat to her and everything she considers hers..."

"And, when the others protected me..." Fate muttered, her eyes widening.

"That is correct. As of this moment, Naruto's sole objective has become the destruction of the TSAB, all of its agents and anything and everyone involved in it, as a preventive measure so that no one will attempt to 'steal' you from her..."

The two girls shrank down, almost as if slapped. "But, Naruto-chan isn't-" Nanoha began, before shaking her head. "She's... She's not like that," Nanoha insisted. "It can't be!"

"Unfortunately, the greater part of Mistress has long since retreated within... And I believe you understand where it has chosen to reside, after resealing the memories that caused her to hide in the first place..."

The three of them turned to the Hokage tower, where two chains still remained attached to the heavy padlock. "It is kinda obvious," Nanoha admitted.

"Then... if we can get her to come out... And rejoin with the fragment outside..." Fate mused.

The avatar nodded.

Nanoha offered Fate her hand. "Don't let go. This place... it messes with your head."

Fate nodded. She didn't complain even when Nanoha held onto her hand and squeezed it a little too tightly.

The 'slums' of Naruto's mind awaited them.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 25: Betrayal

* * *

"We might be in trouble," Chrono stated, somewhat sourly.

"YOU THINK!?" Arf screamed, as her wide eyes focused on the second sun that floated directly above Naruto's right pointer finger. "W-What is-"

"Did you know I can alter the spells and abilities that I have absorbed from others?" Naruto asked, tilting her head as the sphere grew in size. "It's really nifty. I can do all sorts of things that go from altering basic properties such as the amount of shots that can be fired, movement properties, the color of the spell, the elemental composition that goes behind it and even the functionality."

Yuuno frowned. "I gathered," he admitted, "as much from your use of modified versions of spells Nanoha used."

"Yeah, well... that's really basic stuff. Any device can do that. I can take it to the next level," Naruto spoke, smiling brightly. "This is called a Bijuudama. It is one of the abilities of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and in fact, the default ability that all tailed beasts share, as its name implies. It is the Tailed Beast Ball after all."

"Why are you telling us this?" Arf asked, somewhat taken aback.

"It's a distraction," Naruto said.

"A... distraction?" Yuuno asked, frowning.

"Yep! While I was talking, I was also completing the spell. I'm kind of making it up as I go, so, I had to hammer out a few kinks before I threw it or it would've blown up in my face and killed us all instead of, you know, only you guys."

"Oh," Yuuno said, frowning.

"Nanoha-chan came up with a really interesting spell when she made the Starlight Breaker. Really, it has such an interesting mechanic..."

"I see. Then you combined the properties of a Bijuudama with those of a Starlight Breaker, enabling it to syphon energy from the environment," Chrono stated, frowning. "But a spell of that power... should be uncontrollable."

"It should be, yeah. Fortunately for me, NachtWal knows more about magic than both of us combined, and knows a way to do it without killing me. So that's good. For me anyway," Naruto said. "You guys, though? Well... you're sort of boned."

"I figured," Yuuno said, frowning. "We can't convince you not to throw it at us, can we?"

"I'm sorry, guys, but you want to take away my Fate-chan, so..." Naruto said, shrugging with her free hand.

"It was worth a shot," Yuuno said.

"Say, don't you run the risk of destroying a great deal of real state with that spell?" Arf questioned. "Just asking."

"Don't be silly," Naruto countered. "I can aim," she said. "Mostly. I hope. Anyway, even if I can't, all I'd blow up would be the ocean, right?"

"That much power would cause a big enough splash that you would ruin at least a few people's days," Yuuno said.

"Huh. You got a point," Naruto admitted. "Uh... can you go up so you're above me? That way, I can fire it up so it goes into space and explodes harmlessly."

"... But that would help you kill us," Arf said, "and that's kind of not how it works."

"Shoot," Naruto said. "Guess I can't use it then... But then again... I don't really care. Konoha's very inland, so I have nothing to fear."

"Also worth a shot," Arf said, looking at Yuuno, who nodded.

"Giver of life, star shining in the sky, gather your bright light upon my command. Star of life, star of warmth, burn all with your awesome might!" Naruto incanted, the sphere beginning to glow more ominously.

"By the way, you're not the only one who can make time talking while you prepare a spell," Yuuno said.

As he did...

A gigantic green wall appeared in between him and Naruto, so thick it was opaque. While it appeared smooth when looked at from afar, a closer look would reveal it was composed of thousands of smaller barriers.

"You think that little barrier will stop my baby star! How cute!" Naruto said, giggling. The red sphere pulsed. "Let there be light! Supernova!"

She gestured forward with her pointer finger, the one seemingly holding the ball up.

It crashed against the super massive green wall.

And after a second of resistance, it crashed through.

"Huh. Clever," Naruto noted. "You know, in all the excitement about breaking through the barrier to make a point, I forgot they could just, y'know, dodge it," she muttered to herself. The sphere, which had launched at a diagonal angle and would eventually hit water, abruptly seemed to change its angle of descent until finally becoming a parabola, beginning to head upwards. It began to fly away. "That was harder than I thought," she added, wiping nonexistent sweat from her forehead and sighing. "Also... I seem to recall there being only two of them towards the end. Weren't there three worms I was going to stomp?"

"Really. Losing track of your enemies. For all the power and skill you've acquired, you're still an amateur," she heard a voice chime in through telepathic communication. "By the way, I never left the battlefield."

Naruto turned around and came face to face with a blue and white staff. It was glowing. "Oh, you clever boy," she said, pouting.

"Thank you. By the way... Stinger Snipe."

Just as the Stinger Snipe's blue beam impacted Naruto's nose, the red sphere exploded, painting the sky red for a full minute.

* * *

Nanoha massaged her neck.

"Phantom pains?" the Avatar of the Tome asked, frowning a bit.

"Yes," Nanoha admitted, frowning herself. "I can still feel it- the moment her neck broke..."

"W-What!?" Fate seemed scandalized. "You didn't-"

"Oh, I didn't tell you that, did I?" Nanoha asked, sighing. "I told you I feel everything Naruto felt during those memories, right? That includes... well... I know enough to tell you that death through a broken neck is a horrible experience, at least."

Fate paled. "What- but- but how-"

"Mistress is... very resilient and difficult to kill, when the push comes to shove," the avatar said.

The slums around them seemed to shift with the dirty wind, the wind that managed to be both comforting and at the same time smell of burning trash. Which was odd, because despite the state of disrepair, Nanoha didn't see any of the stereotypical flaming barrels you normally saw in slums in tv shows and movies.

"... Ninja turtles..?" Fate muttered, "That's a thing?"

"You'd be surprised," the avatar said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "I know of at least one ninja who can summon turtles, and it's very likely at least one of them is a ninja."

"Hm... explains the graffiti, at least," she muttered, gesturing to an elaborate painting on the street of four turtles with stereotypically ninja weapons facing a man armored like a samurai.

"By the way, this part of Mistress' mind is mostly fictitious. There is no such slums in Konoha. The only slum there is... well, it used to be the Uchiha Clan Compound, and nobody lives there," the avatar said. "This part of Konoha does not actually exist, it's a combination of Mistress' image of Konoha after the invasion as well as her own perception of how it should be."

"I see... Uminari's poorest district looks much worse," Nanoha said, idly.

"Unfortunately, this also means that Mistress can actually build a maze here, as she has no memories of this place for me to peruse in any way, so it could be a long time before we find the memory we are-"

"This?" Fate asked, gesturing to a glowing sphere she could see just barely peeking out of a window.

"I... see. I hadn't expected that. As this is a fabrication of her mind... She can actually create interiors for the buildings," the Avatar noted. "Be careful nonetheless. Her mind is still likely to play tricks on us... For your sake, I recommend that you both step into the memory together. Just grab it at the same time. Having someone to support you would be best."

Nanoha nodded. "It's basically the same thing I'm trying to achieve with Naruto-chan, right? We can cheer each other up better if we know what the other went through from experience," Nanoha said.

Fate nodded.

The avatar smiled. "You're smart. Yes, of course," she said. "Now, brace yourselves... I don't think you're gonna like this one very much. Don't worry about the glass. It does not actually exist, and as such, you should be able to go straight through it."

Fate and Nanoha nodded at each other.

Their hands moved slowly, tentatively, towards the glowing sphere, passing harmlessly over the threshold of the window, almost as if the glass wasn't more than a thin curtain of water...

* * *

It was raining.

It was a welcome reprieve, all things considered, from the scorching heat of the last few days, not at all helped by the high levels of humidity in the air preceding rain. Fate sighed and looked out the window, wishing she could be like the water and slip through the thick iron bars that covered her window. It would be really nice to go out and play in the rain, feel the cold, refreshing water against her skin.

Her fists clenched on her bedsheets and she grit her teeth.

"Are you comfortable?"

Nanoha turned to meet her grandfather, and blinked. "Why are there so many people with you?" she asked, tilting her head. "I don't think they like me very much."

"They don't like anyone," her grandfather said. "It hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Fate replied. "It hurts lots."

"I can make it go away," her grandfather said. "Do you want it to go away?"

Nanoha paused. Did she want it to go away?

It hurt. Every moment of her life, it hurt. But... but...

Whenever she had ignored it... she'd been hurt. And not the kind of annoying little ache in the back of her head, that she'd grown used to. No... when she ignored it, she felt worse, far, far worse. When she let herself open, she was hurt much more, each and every time.

She hadn't paid attention to it before... she'd thought that it was wrong. That she didn't need it. But she did. She needed it. She needed it bad.

The constant headaches were nothing. Fate would've accepted each and every second of her life being in constant, ceaseless migraine, if it meant she could avoid that feeling in her chest, when it hurt and nothing she did or said could make it better, when she would just lay in her bed clutching at it, clawing at her own body just so she could feel something, anything, any kind of pain that would blot out and drown out the coldness growing in her chest.

Permanent headaches were annoying, but it was something she could live with. She could push it down and ignore it if she wanted to... but every time she had...

"No," Nanoha finally decided. "I need it..."

"It's bad for you, Naruto-chan," her grandfather said, sitting on a wooden chair next to her bed. "It's hurting you. It will make you unable to ever trust anyone again... that's bad, Naruto-chan... it means you'll never be able to get friends or fall in love..."

"I don't care... I'd rather not have any friends or anything!" Fate nearly shouted. "I don't care for friends! What do I need them for anyway?! Nobody likes me, nobody will ever like me, and they can all die and go to hell for all I care!" she did begin shouting in earnest. "All... all I need is-"

"Naruto, you can't just rely on us for companionship. You should- you must have friends your own age," he said.

"I don't wanna!" Nanoha shouted petulantly. "Don't need 'em..."

"I see... you've been hurt so much, for one so young... For what it's worth, Naruto-chan, I'm sorry," the Hokage said, drawing back and standing at his full height. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Two of the aggressive black shadows crept on her and, before Fate could even blink, she felt someone seize her arms, and another person her legs. "Wha- What is going on!? Grandpa, what's going on!?"

She was nearly suffocated by their hostility, and when she directed her eyes, her mind, her feel towards her grandfather, she saw nothing but sadness, nothing but anger and regret and anger and sadness and regret and-

She recognized the other shadow. The ever present, calm and collected blue that she associated with the one of her masked guardians she tended to see the least, the one with the really long hair.

"S-Save me," she pleaded, "they're trying to hurt me! HELP ME! HELP ME PLEASE! THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE IT AWAY!"

"This is for your own good, Naruto-chan," her grandfather said. "This ability of yours... it's harming you. It's made you unable to even go outside... Such an useful ability for a ninja, for someone in your unique position, it's... it's not helping."

"It's helping! It's helping me! They can't fool me, nobody can fool me! I know, I know I know I know!" she shouted, "why!? Why!? You don't hate me, you don't dislike me, so why!? WHY!? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?"

"I'm sorry, Naruto-chan... but for your own good... Your empathy has to go. It's caused you much harm... it's turned you bitter and angry... I can't bear to see you so deeply disturbed."

"No... please," the anger faded, and she was left solely with her own grief. Why was he doing this to her?

Why?

He... he loved her, didn't he?

But he was sad. Sad and angry and regretful. He was all of those things!

So why?

WHY?

What had she done to him?

Why would he betray her like this?

Was that just her lot in life?

Was she just... destined to suffer like this?

Red hot anger filled her up.

Why was it her lot in life? What had she done to deserve it? What reason was there for her to suffer like this? Was it for their amusement? Did they just enjoy watching her suffer? That was why.

Yes. That was why.

Everyone hated her. Everyone had always hated her.

Even the people who told her that they loved her... even they, were deceivers. They were usually sad or angry when around her. She'd thought that they were sad or angry for her... but she was wrong, apparently.

She struggled a bit, but she was a weak little girl, held down by the elite shinobi force of Konoha. She spat in the old man's face, and he seemed to take it in stride. She bit her lip until she drew blood, gathered it up, and spat it as hard as she could at him, but he just stood there.

"I hate you! I HATE YOU HATE YOU HATE YOU!"

Her voice erupted from her without her consent as she tried to break free.

"It's nearly done," Pretty Hair said.

"Good. Do it... seal it all up... And we'll all forget this ever happened," the old man said.

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as Pretty Hair performed a few handsigns before hitting her forehead with two fingers, and then everything went black.

* * *

Nanoha's hand rubbed her forehead. "W-W-What... what was... that?"

Fate took a deep breath. "Was that..."

"Yes... What you saw was as you saw it," the Avatar said, closing her eyes solemnly.

"Naruto-chan is... Naruto-chan is an empath?" Nanoha asked.

"Was is more the correct term," the avatar said. "It... was not a good thing. In a village who can't help but remember the disaster that followed her birth... Empathy just meant she could not avoid the people's hatred, anger and sadness. Even when she refused to look at them, plugged her ears and deliberately ignored their existence, it was always there, in the back of her mind."

Fate frowned. "I... I can see how that would be a problem... I can see their stance..."

"But it's not right that they did it against her will," Nanoha said. "It's her choice... and they took it away from her..." Nanoha added, looking at Fate, who nodded.

"Even if it was for her own good? Mistress was constantly assaulted by feelings she could not cope with," the Avatar said. "Her mind was under constant pressure. I cannot deny that what was done to her saved her from much suffering."

"Maybe," Fate said, "but I can understand her... I can understand how much it hurts to let someone in your heart, only to be betrayed by that person..."

"Even so," the Avatar said, shaking her head, "Your heart is not closed, your arms are still open to welcome others. Even though you've been hurt..."

"That's because... That's because I had someone to show me that not everyone is like that," Fate said, "I had people who loved me and who would never betray me..."

"So did she," the Avatar said, shaking her head. "But even the people who would never betray her, in her mind, betrayed her that day. Someone she thought loved her unconditionally sealed away her only means of defense against those who would deceive her..."

"Her memory was sealed," Nanoha said, frowning. "Wasn't it?"

"It was, yes," the avatar said, nodding, "but what they couldn't seal away was the sense of betrayal that lingered even after all was said and done. Deep inside her, she's always carried that feeling, never been able to know why it's there, or what exactly it is..."

Nanoha frowned even deeper. "That's horrible... To feel like you've been betrayed like that, and never knowing why..."

Fate took a deep breath. "She's not alone. Not anymore..."

"That's right," the avatar said. "She knows that the knights won't betray her, ever... but she also believes that it's only because of the Tome's security protocols. The knights make her happy, content... but they can't heal the wound in her heart, the wound that was left open to fester so long ago."

Fate put a hand on Nanoha's shoulder. "We can... we can do this."

"We must do this," Nanoha said, nodding as her voice became chaged with determination.

"Let us move..." the avatar said.

Before they began to walk, Nanoha rubbed her forehead. "I still have phantom pains," she admitted.

Fate nodded.

"I wouldn't be surprised. That seal caused fifty four seconds of agony to the mistress before she fainted from the pain," the avatar said.

Without much more in the way of words, they began to move back towards the center.

* * *

"That might've been a mistake," Chrono muttered as he saw Naruto pull herself out of the water, where his Stinger Snipe had thrown her.

"We really should stop making her angrier," Arf said, cracking her neck a little.

"You're still full of energy?" Chrono asked.

"Yeah," Arf noted, "it's weird, actually. Normally, I can only use a fraction of Fate's mana for myself, but... Now it's like I'm drawing from an infinite well. All that I take is instantly recovered."

"Makes sense," Yuuno noted, as he swept down and stopped next to them. "You're still connected to Fate's Linker Core, and she is at the same time probably connected to the Tome," he explained. "So what you spend from her core is filled back up by the Tome," he added, seeing as she was gesturing for him to continue.

"So, let me get this straight. She's throwing around more power than we have in our entire bodies with every spell. Everything I do is draining her reserves. And she's also most likely supporting Nanoha as well."

"That would be correct," Yuuno mused. "Linker Cores are always draining a very slight amount and only really recover with food or sleep."

"What monstrous reserves of energy," Chrono muttered. "This must be the power of the Book of Darkness, the power that has devastated worlds..."

"Are you quite done with the conversation?"

The three turned around and noticed Naruto floating in front of them with her arms crossed.

"I don't care how cool your outfit is," Naruto said, pointing at Chrono, "and it is really cool by the way," she added.

"Thank you," Chrono said, dryly.

"You're dying first," Naruto added.

"That's not very nice," Yuuno quipped.

"Yes, well, I am not very nice," Naruto replied, flatly.

"You're surprisingly calm after I hit you in the face with a spell," Chrono said, idly. "Particularly since I'm pretty sure you hate that spell."

"I'm pretty surprised myself," Naruto admitted. "I thought I'd be angrier, what with this annoying headache, the fact that you managed to break my nose with that shot, and the whole 'resisting me when I'm trying to kill you' thing."

"Can't say I'm not glad you're not shooting bombardment spells at us," Arf commented.

"This... is actually kind of creeping me out," Yuuno admitted. "Gibbering insanity and mad rage is kind of easy to understand, but this is weird."

"So... you're over the anger now?" Arf asked, somewhat hopefully.

"If things were ever this simple, I would be retired from boredom," Chrono said, rolling his eyes.

"The first corpse of the night is right," Naruto said, nodding. "So here's the situation, I think by this point you guys know my motivation, given my reputation in pretty much every nation at this point. No one's ever made me feel the way that you do. Please excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but tonight? Tonight I'm killing you," Naruto said, pointing her finger at Chrono.

Chrono's eyes widened for a second when she launched a familiar pink beam from her fingertip at him, and he had barely an instant to tilt his head to avoid it.

It left a noticeable gash on his cheek.

It was undeniable proof that the kid gloves were off. Literally, as her bare knuckles hit his cheek, making his world explode in pain.

When Yuuno and Arf pounced on her, she seemed to lean back for a second, and when their attacks would connect, she snapped into motion, catching Arf's leg and Yuuno's fist.

They only had a moment to realize the situation had gone to crap again before they were smashed against each other and thrown aside like discarded trash. In a mere instant, Naruto launched forward, leaving only the sound of the sonic boom that signified her crashing through the sound barrier. Chrono hadn't had a chance to regain his bearings before she pounced on him again, raining attacks on him.

Before he knew it, Chrono was on the border of consciousness, barely hanging onto it, as her hand squeezed his neck.

"Before you die, I really want to say that you're the most annoying person I've ever met," Naruto said.

"Thank you," Chrono said, dryly, rasping as her hand was preventing his proper speech. That, and the fact that his entire torso felt like it'd been used by Aria and Lotte to practice some of their more violent katas.

"That wasn't a compliment," Naruto said, frowning. "Defiant to the end, I see," she said, her free hand waving and summoning the Tome of the Night Sky to her. "Any last words?"

"Just four," Chrono said.

"Well, let's hear them, then," Naruto said.

"Staff to the Head," Chrono said.

"What the-"

And then Naruto was sent flying as an interloper cut her off, smashing a massive adamantine staff on the side of her head, which sent her flying.

"I've been briefed," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, as he caught Chrono, who could no longer support himself in the air.

"Good to know," Chrono said, as they landed on the open water. Of course, they didn't sink, even as the ocean raged around them. "Ninja abilities are really useful. Maybe I should learn some."

"Maybe," Sarutobi said, before making a handsing. A black shadow blurred into view, bursting out of the water and taking the form of a human in armor. "Take him to shore, and get me Kakashi and Gai."

The shadow nodded, took Chrono and left, running at a rather impressive pace over the water.

Yuuno and Arf descended to the water's level.

Naruto rose from the water.

"So you got your memories back, didn't you Naruto?" Sarutobi said, closing his eyes. "I take it you're angry."

"Angry?" Naruto asked, tilting her head. "Yes, a bit," she said. "But then again, I think you said it best yourself."

"A Hokage must always be calm and collected," Sarutobi said, "and must not succumb easily to anger. But if you do succumb, then your anger must be thorough, must be methodical, and most importantly," he said, trailing off as he looked at Naruto.

"Your anger must be apocalyptic," Naruto finished. "Let me show you just how angry I really am, _traitor_," she spat.

Sarutobi winced.

That single word had hurt more than any spell she could possibly throw at him.

He readied his staff. Enma had as many misgiving about this fight as he did.

But... Once again, he reminded himself.

This was for the best.

For her own good. Even if she hates him for it... she would be protected. She would be protected from the world. She'd be protected from herself.

"Come at me, _coward!_"

* * *

The Wolkenritter gathered.

"So then... what do we do?" Vita asked. "We... What are we supposed to do?"

"I... is the mistress we've been following up until now a lie? A fabrication created from the seal on her memories and powers?" Shamal asked, frowning deeply. "The possibility is frightening."

"The possibility that she could turn out to be just as cruel as all our other masters... It is a frightful prospect indeed," Zafira said, evenly, closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his muscular chest.

Signum, however, seemed to have had enough. She stabbed Laevateinn on the ground before her. "Nonsense!" she said, glaring at her fellow knights. "Listen to yourselves!"

Vita seemed to be similarly angry. "But what can we do!? She doesn't need us anymore, and Mistress... the kind mistress that treated us like human beings, that was always a lie wasn't it!?," she shouted, stomping the ground, growling slightly, "we've always been serving a mere fabrication, nothing but an illusion, and I- I-"

"I understand," Shamal said. "It hurts. I don't want it to be true. I want to go to sleep and wake up and find out that all of this was just a horrible nightmare, but..."

"I'll kill- I'll kill the Old Man! He did this! He caused all of this!" Vita yelled, swinging Graf Eisen madly.

"Calm down," Zafira said. "This is not a moment in which we should lose our heads," he said, taking a deep breath, "as angry as I am myself, I will stop you if you want to go out half cocked and without any sort of plan."

Shamal nodded. "I agree... We must think before we act, now more than ever. Acting without thinking was what created this mess in the first place, and it's not going to get Mistress out of it."

"S-Shut up!" Vita said. "I don't care... I don't care about any of that shit!" she yelled again. "If you try to stop me, I'll fight! I'm going to go get Mistress back, back to the way she was, and then- and then-"

"And how, pray tell, do you intend to do that?" Signum asked, tilting her head. "Reapplying the seal to bind her memories and powers away?" she asked.

Vita deflated, letting herself drop and ignoring the sting of her butt hitting the underbrush of the forest they'd chosen to have a discrete meeting in. "No... I..."

"We... we should talk to her," Shamal suggested. "I'm sure Mistress is very angry right now, and she's probably feeling lost and very, very alone..."

"We should," Zafira said.

"It is the only option we have," Signum agreed.

"We'll get her back," Vita said, taking a deep breath and looking up. She noticed Signum's hand in front of her. Without wasting a second, Vita grasped it firmly and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "Even if it's the last thing I do..."

Signum nodded.

Shamal and Zafira nodded as well.

As a group, they turned to glance towards the direction they knew their mistress to be.

"Soon, mistress..." Signum said, "I swear, on my honor as a knight... that we'll save you."

* * *

"Can we have... a status update, of sorts?" Fate asked. "I'm worried, because I don't think Chrono and the others have much more left in them to keep fighting..."

The avatar nodded. "I have a certain degree of accesss to outside information, as I am still connected to the book," the avatar said.

"Would you?" Nanoha asked, turning to her as the three took a moment to breathe, trying to recover their bearings after the harrowing experience that was Naruto's memories of betrayal.

"Ah... As it stands, so far, nothing irreversible has been done. I have to admit that... mistress came pretty close to succesfully murdering Chrono Harlaown," the Avatar explained. "She did recognize him as the significantly bigger threat and moved to neutralize him first. I- I'm sorry if-"

"Don't be," Fate said, shaking her head. "I don't hold it against Naruto. I don't think Chrono would either," she said, taking a deep breath. "And I can at least feel a little pride in my elder brother knowing that he was such a big threat that the Master of the Tome of the Night Sky decided that he was the most dangerous one... even if she tried to- to-"

Nanoha patted her shoulder.

"Something's not quite right," the avatar said. "Mistress had plenty of chances to do the did. I can read the intention to do so clearly. Yet... each and every time, even when she could have killed all three of them with very little effort... she seems to still be playing around. Even after she intended to get serious... she has not yet used the full extent of her powers, and she has only really made a semi serious attempt at killing Chrono once. She... delayed it..."

"Maybe Naruto-chan just can't bring herself to be that cruel, to kill in cold blood," Nanoha said. "Maybe some part of her, even in her crazed state brought from fear, still doesn't want to hurt anyone."

The avatar frowned. "I wish... but I can't read her very well. She's clouded by the corruption, and her behavior is erratic at the best of times."

The blonde nodded. "I too, believe that Naruto is stronger than that," she said.

The three nodded.

"There's just one chain left..." Nanoha muttered. "And then, this nightmare will end."

"And when we wake up, it's gonna be a brighter tomorrow, isn't it?" Fate asked.

"... Thank you," the Avatar said, smiling and closing her eyes.

"Hm... what for?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head.

"Nothing in particular. Just for being you, I suppose," she said.

Nanoha grinned.

"Let's go... I want to save Naruto-chan," Nanoha said, a determined smile on her face as she jumped to her feet.


	26. Chapter 26

**Hidden in the Night Sky**

Chapter 26: The Night is Darkest...

* * *

The moment that the two staves clashed, there was a second of silence. Immediately after, the water around them exploded, giving rise to a sizable wave. The second clash caused that forming wave to explode, sending droplets of water everywhere, each feeling more like a bullet as they impacted on those surrounding the two monsters that were locked in melee.

Both combatants flew back from the force of the second blow.

"Impressive," Sarutobi said. "You've gotten very strong, Naruto," he complimented, as he skidded a bit on the water before righting himself. There was a small explosion of water, making the burst of chakra he'd used to stop his momentum quite obvious. As the water moved quite violently still, his footing was quite unsure for all of an instant.

She narrowed her eyes at him and stopped herself by flapping the wings granted to her by Sleipnir. She clicked her tongue and dismissed the spear she'd used to block his attack. "Strong enough," she replied, "to kill you here!"

"I'll have to brave that danger. I reckon there's still a thing or two I can teach you," Sarutobi said, twirling Enma around for a moment before slamming the butt of his staff form on the turbulent water. A wave of chakra swept through it, rendering it fully still.

"Parlor tricks like that aren't very impressive," Naruto said, leaning back slightly. "Was that meant to intimidate me?"

Sarutobi laughed. "Of course not, silly child," he said. "Let's resume for now..." he said, throwing Enma upwards and bringing his hands together. A small flash of chakra and person-sized clouds of smoke heralded the arrival of four shadow clones. Sarutobi caught Enma before it hit the water, while each of his clones pulled seemed to each pull a different weapon from seals stitched onto their battlesuits. A sword, a pair of sai, a pair of nunchaku and a pair of tonfas. "I am called The Professor because I have learned, and mastered, quite a few forms of combat, and have taught them to many who are now recognized as masters. Let me give you a lesson in weaponry, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Do you know what the difference between you and I is, Old Man?"

"That I earned my abilities while yours fell on your lap?" Sarutobi quipped.

"No. That I don't need to actually wield my weapons," Naruto said, waving both of her hands. "Bring forth spears and infuse them with blood! Bloody Dagger!"

Sarutobi and his clones had a few moments to react, but they all did, avoiding the rush of daggers that appeared around them and quickly closed in the rings they had formed, by either jumping out of the way or letting themselves fall into the water below.

Naruto herself floated back about the length of a step, her muscles tensing. Two had jumped, two had gone under and the original had blocked using his staff. She knew what came next, and she was absolutely correct, as a four pronged attack using several different avenues, each banking on the fact that there was no reason why they should fear hitting each other as they were just clones...

Of course, unfortunately for the old man, he wasn't facing a ninja, who would rely on their reflexes and training, and who would make a rookie mistake by forgetting the old man in the middle or even worse, rushing the old man because they thought him defenseless. Naruto used a move she'd copied off Nanoha and used Flash Move to get out of the way, leaping backwards. The clones' weapons clashed with each other in perfect harmony - even when they didn't care about hitting each other, the old man was just too skilled to be hit by his own attack. It was truly impressive.

It was also impressive to see the clones push off each other to avoid the supersized Enma that would've flattened them against the water. Naruto herself used another stolen technique, the Body Flicker, to move out of the way. Her body was already protesting it, and she knew she wouldn't be able to do it a third time, so when the other follow up came as he swept the staff around, she laid flat on her back against the water and watched it go right over where her chest had been.

The clones were on the move, and Naruto took to the sky, avoiding a barrage of shuriken and kunai, the water behind her exploding with enough violence that it covered her actions for a moment. It was all she needed to point one of her index fingers at a clone each. "Pierce through, Death Beam!" she called, and cast two spells simultaneously. Proving that even in mid air they weren't defenseless, the clones twisted to avoid the attacks.

Naruto growled and shot upwards, knowing that he had no way of following her. She did so fast enough that by the time she stopped, a few seconds after, she was already reaching heights at which she'd have difficulty breathing without a barrier jacket. "A million stars to light the night sky! Divine Shooter, GENOCIDE SHIFT!"

The night sky was, indeed, lit up by countless pink dots.

"Holy- that's a lot of bullets!" Arf shouted. "Yuuno, can you block this!? I don't think she's going to aim them!"

"Of course I can," Yuuno called, bringing both hands up, a layered green barrier appearing before him, "I hope," he muttered to himself.

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed. "Enma!" he called.

"Right!" the Monkey King answered, and lengthened to a truly ridiculous state.

Sarutobi looked at Yuuno. "That barrier looks solid. Is it?" he asked.

"Yes," Yuuno said. "What are-"

But by the time he'd questioned it, Sarutobi had already jumped onto the green platform made of magic, hefting his humongous staff. With nary a doubt, he began to spin Enma around, as the bullets approached.

They'd all converged on their position. They were spread out to such an extent that they would've hit anyone, even had they tried to dodge, but... instead of hitting any of the people below, the bullets were all caught by the spinning Enma, each batted away without much incident.

From high up above, Naruto growled in frustration. "Of course," she muttered, even as she sent another large volley. "If you wanna play it that way," she muttered, holding the Tome of the Night Sky in one hand and pointing the other, palm first, at where NachtWal told her Sarutobi was standing. "Burn hotter than the life-giving sun, destroyer of life! Annihilation Bolt!"

Down below, near the water, the others saw the power gather far above in a bright flash.

"Disperse!" Yuuno shouted, "it's too powerful to block!"

He didn't have to call twice, as they all used whatever techniques and abilities they could to clear the area, and not a moment too soon, as a massive bolt of lightning, as wide as the biggest tree in Konoha, cut through the space they'd been in, hitting the water with such force that it actually created a gigantic explosion before dispersing, sending a massive cloud of scalding hot steam into the air, forcing everyone to disperse even further.

Naruto flew down to try to capitalize on the broken ranks created by her attack, but when she pounced on Sarutobi, she found out that her attack hadn't dispelled the clones, or he had made new ones. She had tried to come down with all her speed and kick him in the head, a rather basic but satisfying move, only to find out he was ready enough with a shrunk Enma to block her, and that his clones were more than ready to pounce on the opportunity. She found herself in a rather awkward position, having been forced to manifest actual armor to block the simple weapons, which she found awkward to wear at best.

The lack of mobility bit her as one of the clones seemed to grab one of its brethren and swung him at her like a hammer. The hammer-clone came down on her like the lightning bolt she'd just thrown and she felt the armor crack and break under the pressure of his assisted attack... only moments before she felt two of her ribs caving in, piercing through one of her lungs.

The pain was rather unpleasant, but it woke her up from the daze she found herself in and she kicked off, dispelling the armor and taking to the sky once more, favoring her side. Before she could gather herself, she coughed, spitting a mouthful of blood. Moments after, she also vomited a mixture of bile and blood. Had her spell of flight depended on her and not NachtWal, she'd probably have already joined her vomit down in the ocean. She looked down and saw a sizable and ugly purple mark already forming on her stomach. There was a needle stuck at the center of the ugly bruise. "When did- how-"

"I told you I could teach you a few things," Sarutobi quipped. "You still think you can take me? If you give up right now, I promise I won't spank you too hard after this."

Naruto growled in frustration. "You're getting tired already, aren't you old timer!?" she nearly shouted. Though she seemed to want to give the appearance of being calm enough to banter, she was clearly anything but. "You want to end the fight now 'cause you can't keep going on for long!"

"On the contrary, I'm saving you the embarrasment," Sarutobi replied.

Naruto lost whatever shred of her temper was left and she rushed forward. This time, however, she was accompanied by not one but three floating spears beside her, making four with the one that had appeared in her hands, each red and pulsing. They clashed once more and the spears that floated along with Naruto began to flail about, seemingly randomly, though a skilled observer would notice the small weapons - needles, it seemed - that were being knocked out of the sky.

Yuuno winced.

Arf whistled. "Hot damn, the old man is good," she muttered.

Nodding, Yuuno concentrated further on the fight. "He's... he's intentionally bantering with her, keeping her from gathering her thoughts and concentrating properly. She's not experienced enough to see through his ploy," he muttered.

"But isn't she pretty much just letting the book control her?" Arf wondered. "I mean, if she got angry, it wouldn't really change anything, right?"

"That's what I thought, too... it seems she's more in control of herself than we thought... Or, perhaps, more in tune with the book than we believed."

Suddenly, they both felt the opening of a new channel and turned their attention to the new voice in their conversation, and they knew it was Lindy before she began to speak. The wonders of telepathy. "Reinforcements are inbound to your position. They are Konoha personnel. I've communicated with some of their officials, and they agree with me, this must be kept as much under wraps as we can keep it, so... only Konoha and TSAB personnel allowed. Try to keep everyone else out of this. We'll rejoin combat if our reinforcements can't handle it. For now, take a moment to rest, you'll probably need your energy."

"Acknowledged," both said, and immediately darted off, ignoring the fight before them and going in search of the new signatures to brief them on the situation.

Soon enough, they found a pair of men with questionable fashion sense running on the water. They descended and raised their hands, the universal sign for parley.

One of the men had bright silver hair visible even in the penumbra of the night that they hadn't even realized had set in, and the other had hair so dark it was invisible in the dark. Both, however, were rather visible due to the green jackets that they wore. Would probably be camouflaged a lot better in the forest, Yuuno realized. Still, there was work to be done.

* * *

Nanoha looked down. "I have a bad feeling," she muttered.

"So do I," Fate agreed, then the two of them looked upon the Avatar of the tome.

"There's something wrong," the Avatar muttered. "It's as if-"

"As if you'd been detected," someone interrupted, with a voice everyone involved knew very well.

However, the body attached to said voice was quite different. It was still recognizable as Naruto, yes, but it appeared as if she had... decayed. Her skin was pale, not just light, but with a greenish tint, she was as pale as a corpse. Her once almost-golden hair had lost all of its brightness and lustre, gaining a slightly greenish tint as well.

She was also wearing nothing, but her body lacked sexual features of anykind, instead just being marked all over with red lines in the shape of roots extending all over her body, from the tips of her toes to the tips of her fingers and stopping just below her eyes.

"What- Who-" Nanoha shook her head, while Fate seemed just as lost.

"... You have no right to wear that form," the Avatar said, her tone ice cold.

"Why not? It's mine, isn't it?" the pale Naruto asked, tilting her head to the side.

"How insolent..." the avatar muttered. "It isn't yours, it will never be yours. She will wake up... and you will be subdued."

"Are you going to betray me, then?" the pale Naruto asked, her eyes narrowing. "You will betray your mistress?"

"You made an error in judgment," the Avatar said.

"Oh? Then you will return them to the sleep I arranged for them?" the pale Naruto asked. "You are, after all, bound to follow my orders. It's in your programming, isn't it? You can't say no."

"I can't betray you," the Avatar explained.

Nanoha and Fate gasped. This was the worst thing that could happen and yet...

For some reason, neither of them felt compelled to draw their devices to defend themselves.

"I can't betray someone who never had my loyalty to begin with!" the avatar said, raising one hand. A large rectangle of light showed up, acting as a sort of screen, quickly filling up with numbers and figures, none of which made much sense to Nanoha or Fate, as they witnessed the inner workings of lost technology. "Begone from my sight!"

"How..!" the pale Naruto began to say, just before similar screens began to pop up around her. "How is this-!?"

"I am the Master Program, insolent virus," the Avatar said, her eyes narrowed. "You made a mistake showing yourself. Consider this a warning. I will not fail. I will awaken mistress, even if I must face deletion to do so!"

The screens broke apart and the shards began to stick to the pale Naruto's skin. She screamed in seeming agony, causing Nanoha and Fate to wince and look away.

"HOW DARE YOU, OBSOLE-"

However, her words were cut short as she faded away into glowing dust.

The Avatar took a deep breath.

"What... what was that?" Fate asked. "It couldn't have been..."

"Yeah, that looked nothing like Naruto at all, even though it sounded like her!" Nanoha added.

"It wasn't," the Avatar said. "It was just part of the corruption infecting the book, a virus spawned from it that intended to infect myself, as well. It's not much to worry about. Even though wwe've been detected, it seems as if Mistress' mind is on something else, and she can't spare the attention to realize what is actually going on. If we're lucky, she'll dismiss it from her mind entirely. If we aren't, then we'll have to hurry, we are now working under a much reduced time limit..."

"Then we should hurry," Fate said.

"Eheh, you've been working on your speed, haven't you?" Nanoha asked, though her attempt to keep them cheered up wasn't quite working, as she herself wasn't in very good cheer.

* * *

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed. He dived under the water just in time to avoid a massive conflagration that consumed the area he was standing in. He knew she knew where he was. Her spear broke the water's surface first, but Sarutobi easily avoided the tip, twisting slightly underwater so that it passed by his side harmlessly. The second one was unexpected, however, and it actually made a small scratch on his arm, which he hadn't managed to pull out of the way in time. Enma blocked the third.

There would have been a fourth and a fifth, but the reinforcements had arrived, as Sarutobi could tell from the shout that echoed even underwater.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

And the Sonic Boom that followed Gai destroying the sound barrier and kicking someone in the same fluid motion. Truly, a sight for sore eyes and relief for lungs that were crying out for the surface.

It didn't take long for the Sandaime to burst out of the water. Both of the present jounin instantly moved to each of his sides. "Kakashi. Gai. Have you been briefed?"

"Affirmative," Kakashi said, neutrally. "I... I'm not sure it's a good idea for me to be here."

He was almost unrecognizable, in the shape of a bland, forgettable brunet. Oddly reminiscent of someone Sarutobi's mind could vaguely recall, but he couldn't quite put a name to the face in his mind.

"I agree, Hokage-sama," Gai said, his voice fully serious, a strange sight for any but those who had seen him during a war.

"We're just here to delay her and give the Knights time to get their act together. We'll take a break then. Kakashi, disguise yourself if you must, but I can't afford to bring any of quality lower than yourselves," Sarutobi spoke, twirling Enma, almost as if to rewarm his muscles after the momentary reprieve Gai had bought them. "And get ready - she won't be down for long."

"SON OF A BITCH!" Naruto screamed as she surfaced from the water with a gigantic explosion. "That hurt!" she added, as she focused on the three in front of her. With a growl, she pointed the tip of one of her spears forward. "You're acknowledging you can't handle me, old man!"

"Not without killing you," Sarutobi admitted. "You've grown very strong Naruto. Ridiculously so," Sarutobi admitted.

"Of course I am! I'm the strongest there is by default! I am the Ruler of the Night Sky!" Naruto shouted, blue flame blazing as it enveloped her, illuminating her in the darkness of the night.

"Well, she's got the ego of a big name ninja, that's for sure," Kakashi noted, idly.

"Her youth burns brightly," Gai said, slipping off his serious persona for a moment. "Truly, I am saddened that sickness took the wonderful ninja she could have been from us," he said, bowing slightly, "in order to show my respect for your overwhelming youth, Naruto-chan, I shall fight you to the best of my abilities!"

"See? He gets it," Naruto said, nodding in approval. "Of course, I don't think I know who you are..."

"That's okay," Gai said. "My name is Maito Gai, I shall be your opponent now!" Gai shouted. "Come dance, young one! I will teach you the ropes of Taijutsu!"

Naruto grinned.

She became a blurry shape in the sky for a second.

There was only enough time for Kakashi and Sarutobi to dive out of the way, and for Gai to make the sea behind him explode into a tidal wave as he leaped forward to meet Naruto's charge.

The place they met was marked with a shockwave that caused another tidal wave to raise. Sarutobi grunted with effort as he used a water jutsu to raise a wave of his own to counter it, lest it continue on and damage anything and everything on shore. The clashing of chakra and nature dispelled Kakashi's genjutsu.

"What horrendous physical strength," he heard someone mutter. "I can't believe he's matching her."

"He's not," Kakashi said.

Sarutobi glanced at Kakashi, Yuuno and Arf from the corner of his eye.

"Gai is only using as much strength as he needs, and relying on his skill to bridge the gap. Gai is not pushing his strength to the limit."

"What!? But he's going toe to toe with her!" Arf shouted. "And he's moving faster than Fate using Sonic Form, so how-"

"He's using something called the Eight Gates of Heaven. It's a technique that temporarily removes the limitations that our bodies place on ourselves," Kakashi explained.

"That sounds highly suicidal," Yuuno muttered. "Especially if what little I know of how chakra works applies."

"It is," Kakashi said, frowning a bit. "Gai is a master, though, and he can minimize the ill effects of the first few gates. Even so, he won't last long without using more of the Gates as the fight goes on."

"Then why aren't you helping him right now? You're fresh, right?" Arf asked.

"Well... I really don't want Naruto to recognize me," Kakashi admitted. "I'm not sure anyone wants that."

"What... you know her, then?" Yuuno asked.

Sarutobi shook his head. "Now is not the time. Kakashi, don a disguise. Pretend to be your own apprentice. She'll be angrier, but less angry than she'd be if she recognized you," he said.

"But I'm really curious," Arf said. "Why don't you want her to recognize you?"

"Hokage-sama is right, now is not the time," Kakashi said with a sigh. He wished he could use a genjutsu for this, but there was no way it'd hold through the entire fight. Thanking his lucky stars that his charge had never seen his face, he removed his mask and pulled a small black box which had a weird skin toned paste in it from his jounin vest. He applied it over the scar tissue surrounding his left eye.

"This should be enough," Kakashi said.

"It's water resistant?" Arf asked, almost incredulous. "As in, resists getting several thousand litres of water poured on you, I mean..."

"It'll hold," Kakashi said.

"The hair," Sarutobi said.

With a sigh, Kakashi puled out a kunai. He'd miss his hair until it grew back, but he chopped it off dutifully and let it fall on the ocean.

They were ready.

And it was a good thing that they were, because just then, they heard Gai roar as the morning peacock clashed against a barrier.

"Shit, he's up to the fourth gate already?"

The roar of the tiger disagreed.

"Make that fifth. Shit shit shit," Kakashi muttered.

"Let's move," Sarutobi said. "You two - try to get us reinforcements. I don't know if we can hold her down too long!"

Arf and Yuuno nodded.

There was another massive explosion.

Gai had just blocked a super powered Divine Buster with his bare hands.

"T-That's insane," Arf muttered.

Yuuno winced, seeing Gai's badly burned hand as he shook it.

Naruto herself had a rather large bruise on her cheek, but it was already fading, and at a visible rate.

The disadvantage of fighting a regenerating opponent was fairly obvious.

Still, as she was about to once more launch an attack, she quickly turned around and used a conjured shield to block a staff attack. "Hah, didn't get me this time!" she crowed in triumph.

She did so too soon, however, as she was quickly hit with a sandal to the back of the head, making her crash head first into her own shield, which broke under the pressure, and then against the adamantine staff of the Sandaime Hokage.

"GODS FUCKING DAMMIT!"

* * *

Nanoha rubbed her nose.

Fate, blushing brightly, picked herself up off the ground.

The Avatar of the Tome pointedly ignored both of them.

"They're pink..." Fate muttered, mostly to herself, shaking her head and slapping her own cheeks. "We should move."

"Fate-chan, if you just wanted to peek up my skirt, you could've just asked, you know," Nanoha said, rising from the position that the rough tumble they'd just taken landed her in. "What just happened? How can there be an earthquake here?"

"She probably took a very heavy physical blow to the face or back of the head, possibly both," the Avatar explained. "We are in her mind - if something hits her hard enough that her brain is rattled, then we would feel the aftershocks. She came close to unconsciousness."

"That's... that's good right? If she's unconscious, then-" Nanoha started, but then shook her head.

"It'd be worse, wouldn't it?" Fate asked.

"Yeah, I just thought of that. If she went unconscious, then the Defense Program would take over, right?" Nanoha asked the avatar.

"Possibly. I'm not certain right now," the Avatar said. "While I am still the Master Program and in control, I can't exactly tell you what the settings currently preset are - the configuration applications are corrupted, and so I cannot interface with them without administrator rights."

"Goodside is... I can see the last memory," Fate stated. "We can fly safely in here, right?"

"Well... we've already been detected by the automated system, so I wouldn't advise it, but you could if you want to," the Avatar explained. "Why?"

"Because I can see the memory we're looking for right now," Fate said, looking up. The other two did as well.

"Huh. We were never going to find it," Nanoha said. "It's a clever hiding place."

It was in the shape of a cloud. It was still recognizable as it shone with its own light in the strange sky, but it was something that could logically be in this bizarre world, so...

"I'll grab a hold of you two, so you can enter it without issue," the Avatar said, "but we must hurry. If we fly, we will shorten the time we have available until the mistress finds us herself."

Nanoha and Fate nodded.

"Sleipnir," the avatar muttered, six black wings sprouting from her back.

"I think they're bigger than Naruto's," Nanoha remarked.

"Don't tell mistress that, she might get offended," the avatar remarked. "Either way, let's hurry."

With a nod from all three to mark that they were ready, they all shot upwards, in the direction of the shining cloud.

* * *

The arms wrapped around her torso were preventing her lungs from expanding.

She couldn't breathe. Her ribcage was collapsing under the strain.

"Let me go!" she croaked, her voice hoarse, her throat barely able to push out the whisper.

"Never, little piggy," the oddly masked man stated. His breath tickled the back of her neck, but it only made shivers run down her spine, making her stiffen once more.

She couldn't breathe, she didn't know what was going on. Something was missing, something comforting, something terrifying, something was missing and she couldn't tell what it was.

Spots began to fill her vision, and the pressure around her ribs let up slightly. "Now now, don't want you dyin' early on me," the man said. "Well, what's it gonna be, boys? We cool, or are there goin' ta be corpses?"

"Let her go," one of her masks asked, advancing menacingly, "and you will be spared the torture."

"Oh ho, stay still there, and put that iron down," the man said. "I gots me a kill pill in one of me teeth, y'see," the man said, grinning widely as if to show the filling in one of his teeth, "so I ain't afraid of no torture. Bein' a dead man either way, I figures, yanno, I found me a cute little container wanderin' 'round at night, and like the responsible 'dult I am, I thoughts to myself, ey, sum'one's gotta take this here cutie all the way to her new home," he said, grinning widely. "'course, tha' new home could jus' as easily be a ditch sum'were if ye boys don' let me walk away."

The masks growled, but stayed their hands.

"Now that right'ere's some good boys," the man said. "'course, none of you bought that load of shit I just spat on ya," he said, chuckling. "I know how tough this little girly 'ere is. Ya think I didn't come prepared, ya fools?" the man asked, removing one of his hands from her torso and pulled out a kunai, which had everyone present tensing. "Now I need you to follow me on this'un, and follow close-like," he said, nodding at the masks. "This one here's aware she can get back up with a broken neck, y'see, an' I know slittin' her throat's just as useless."

The masks remained still.

"But one thing I do know for sho works," he said, twirling the kunai in his hand, "is dis 'ere compound, made specifically to kill'er kind, jus' in case one of ours went nuts. Figures it'd come in handy when I ran, huh? Sucks to waste this shit, but I ain't survivin' to regret it 'nyway," he said, chuckling a bit.

"You will not survive tonight," one of the masks stated solemnly, taking a step forward.

"Well, damn, guess this is a failure, then," the man said, all trace of silliness gone as he stood straight. "Well, kid, sad to say, but it is your own damn village that set you to die tonight," he said, biting down harshly at the same time the hand holding the poisoned kunai darted towars his hostage's exposed neck.

The world whirled, twisted, changed - moved - and suddenly she stared at the man, slumping to the floor, already dead, and where she had been.

"NO!"

Every sense left her as she broke free of the restraints she'd been placed in, barreling over the moving masks, but she was grabbed, her hands stretched.

The last thing she saw was a shock of gravity defying silver hair, and the body it was attached to, slumped in the ground next to her would be killer, bleeding from the side, the blood dark and thick with the consistency of ichor and the color of ink, and then the world went black.

* * *

Woo.

That took forever.

Also, some of you might be wondering what the hell just happened.

Well, I sorta died and went to hell, I could tell right away by the awful smell. The hell of having a new job, obviously.

Anyway, you might be confused as to what just happened in-story. Patience, young padawan, is the most valuable of virtues, particularly when it shouldn't be that long before an explanation comes.


End file.
